Gender and Socialisation into Nursing

Another factor that could impact upon student nurse socialisation in compassionate practice is gender. The impact of gender in nursing has been explored for many years and still continues to be a source of concern in relation to the integration of males into the nursing profession (Davies, 1995). Females have been associated with more caring attitudes and behaviours due to their mothering and nurturing role in society (Porter, 1992), although some feminist literature disputes the value of such associations for the profession of nursing (Evans, 2004), much recognises that feminism debates provide opportunities for growth within nursing (Webb, 2002) and within nursing research (Smith, 1992).

Despite identical professional preparation programmes for both male and female student nurses, male students appear to have different socialisation experiences in relation to how they view their masculinity in a predominantly female profession (Dyck et al., 2009). The frequent use of the word ‘male’ before student or nurse reinforces them as a minority group

within the profession despite the fact that men have been involved in nursing activities throughout history and so are not a new phenomenon. It is also interesting to note that despite the potential to recruit from both genders within the population, the profession remains predominantly female around the world.

McLaughlin et al. (2010) undertook a longitudinal study on the experiences of student nurses, using a sample that consisted of 350 female and 34 male students. The participants completed a questionnaire relating to gender role identification and gendered views of nursing careers; they completed the questionnaire during their first 4 weeks and at the end of their programme. At the end of their UK based nursing programme the students that remained on the programme were followed up and it was found that 34 female students had dropped out (approximately 10%) and nine males (approximately 28%). The attrition of male student nurses was significantly higher than that of females and according to the findings from McLaughlin et al. (2010), aspects of this may be due to the students own gender stereotypes and lack of role models making them feel ‘at odds with their occupational environment’ (McLaughlin et al., 2010:306), however the actual reasons for male student nurse attrition was not explored. The students also demonstrated preferences for specific career aspirations in nursing that appeared more acceptable for the male gender, areas of nursing such as mental health where occasional use of restraint could require the physical strength associated with being a man, with a higher proportion of male students preferring specialist roles where greater autonomy was expected and fitted with their ambitions of leadership. There was no exploration of the expectations of emotional labour within the male population as a possible contributing factor or that gender may influence the socialisation in caring behaviours and career aspirations.

Other studies have identified difficulties facing male students, that impact on their ability to complete their education, including difficulties they encounter when in practice such as intimate caring for female patients (Patterson and Morin, 2002) and a lack of successful and local male role models (Brady and Sherrod, 2003). These studies however, did not explore

the emotional component of socialisation experiences and so add little understanding to the socialisation in compassionate practice required within professional preparation programmes.

Female gender issues are also important to consider within student nurse socialisation. As previously discussed, caring has been seen as ‘women’s work’, primarily due to the maternal origins of care for the vulnerable in society and the physical nursing of infants, and that it comes ‘naturally’ to females as an extension of the nurturing role that biology dictates. It may be that this perception is less strong now that it was 20 years ago, with more women combining careers alongside raising children making a female presence in the general workforce more noticeable (Smith, 2012). There is also recognition of individuality within gender groups, acknowledging that females and males have diversity in strengths and weaknesses, experiences and values that can make them more or less successful at caring for others. The old stereotypes of the male doctor and female nurse have been largely overturned during the last couple of decades within developed countries, with the number of female medical students now exceeding the number of male medical students in the UK (Childers, 2006). However, stereotypes are difficult to completely eradicate and female medical students still experience gender stereotyping with reports of patients assuming that females are nurses and males are doctors (Childers, 2006).

In order to reduce gender stereotyping within nursing, McLaughlin et al. (2010) suggested that nurse educators and practice mentors needed to consider gender in their teaching practice, avoid parody and stereotypes of gender, and reject assumptions that male student nurses are a homogeneous group. Such approaches may allow the emotional labour of nursing and socialisation in compassionate practice to be better recognised as important components of professional preparation for male students. This is important not only for the successful socialisation and practice of male nurses, but also because there is a nursing shortage worldwide (Crow et al., 2005) and it is important that all student nurses must be individually valued for their unique contribution to the profession, irrespective of gender.