Impacting Student Success: The Importance of Gender Diversity within Nursing Education

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.