Other Titles
Diversity
Abstract
Session presented on: Friday, April 4, 2014:
There are factors that affect the nursing profession's ability to recruit, retain and successfully graduate male nurses, including lack of acknowledgement of the diverse needs of men, particularly in the education system. There are often limited opportunities for mentorship, sexism on the part of some educators and lack of acknowledgment of the differences between males and females. The male nursing student is often exposed to only a feminine gendered construct of the nurse, incorporating stereotypical behaviours and responses equated with the (feminine) nursing ideal. This descriptive phenomenological study examines the lived experience of the male nursing student, utilizing queer theory and critical concepts, including Butler's performativity, and Foucault's disciplinary power. A preliminary analysis of the data indicates that male students have a sense of isolation and disengagement from their peers and the faculty. They desire a more diverse nursing faculty that would include male instructors and professors. The theme emerging is the need to 'belong' and it has been identified that, through mentorship, role modeling and acknowledgement of the diverse educational needs of men, there would be a higher retention of men within the educational programs and the profession as a whole. There is a perception that the education system puts little emphasis or importance on meeting the needs of minorities and ultimately stresses the importance of the female ideal and its associated behaviours. The conscious establishment of a more diverse faculty would reassure the students that do not fit the majority construct that diversity within the profession is valued and encouraged.
Sigma Membership
Tau Gamma
Lead Author Affiliation
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Gender Performativity, Nursing Faculty, Gender Diversity
Recommended Citation
Le Blanc, Barbara Ellen, "Impacting student success: The importance of gender diversity within nursing education" (2014). NERC (Nursing Education Research Conference). 24.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/nerc/2014/presentations_2014/24
Conference Name
Nursing Education Research Conference 2014
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International,National League for Nursing
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2014
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Impacting student success: The importance of gender diversity within nursing education
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Session presented on: Friday, April 4, 2014:
There are factors that affect the nursing profession's ability to recruit, retain and successfully graduate male nurses, including lack of acknowledgement of the diverse needs of men, particularly in the education system. There are often limited opportunities for mentorship, sexism on the part of some educators and lack of acknowledgment of the differences between males and females. The male nursing student is often exposed to only a feminine gendered construct of the nurse, incorporating stereotypical behaviours and responses equated with the (feminine) nursing ideal. This descriptive phenomenological study examines the lived experience of the male nursing student, utilizing queer theory and critical concepts, including Butler's performativity, and Foucault's disciplinary power. A preliminary analysis of the data indicates that male students have a sense of isolation and disengagement from their peers and the faculty. They desire a more diverse nursing faculty that would include male instructors and professors. The theme emerging is the need to 'belong' and it has been identified that, through mentorship, role modeling and acknowledgement of the diverse educational needs of men, there would be a higher retention of men within the educational programs and the profession as a whole. There is a perception that the education system puts little emphasis or importance on meeting the needs of minorities and ultimately stresses the importance of the female ideal and its associated behaviours. The conscious establishment of a more diverse faculty would reassure the students that do not fit the majority construct that diversity within the profession is valued and encouraged.