Male and Female Nursing Applicants' Attitudes and Expectations Towards Their Future Careers in Nursing

Abstract

This paper investigates the assumption that men have a greater opportunity for career success in the nursing profession than women. This study investigates, through the use of a questionnaire, the attitudes and future expectations of male and female individuals attending interviews to enter a pre-registration nursing course. The results from the questionnaires were analysed using both descriptive and inferential methods of analysis, and the findings were discussed in relation to the existing research. In only two of the items, significant differences were found between male and female nursing applicants’ attitudes and expectations towards their future careers. The results of this study indicate that it is unlikely to be the individual differences between males and females that determine their career progress, and instead it is more likely to be the organisational barriers within the health service or changes in expectations that are continuing to slow the career progress of female nurses. The results from this study have many implications for recruitment to nurse education programmes for men and women within nursing and the health service organisation as a whole.