Nursing has been known as a female career for many years and continues to be embraced by more women than men. The nurse population globally is 76.9% women and 23.1% men. Despite the high population of women and their lengthy experience, the leadership roles in nursing are occupied by men. As an outcome of patriarchal gender dynamics, which show an elevated perception of all that is male and masculine, a disproportionate number of men are placed in administrative and top-specialized posts.
The small number of male nurses comes with an advantage over male tokens. Tokens are individuals who differ from the vast majority group in specific ways, such as gender or colour. Due to the patriarchal nature, more power and prestige are associated with men due to the virtue of their small numbers. The nursing philosophy of feminine ideals like caring and assisting others aids men’s disproportionate attainment of authority and status. (Evans, 1997). Gender segregation is also seen in specialization, where men take up roles which are seen to be more in line with a male role. As such, men specialize in psychiatry and anesthesiology, where the traditional nurse’s uniform is similar to that of physicians. The benefits of the specialities are increased pay and enhanced prestige. Additionally, men make their roles more masculine by prioritizing task-oriented behaviours (Evans, 1997). It has also been observed that when performing bedside care, which is seen as feminine, men undertake them in different ways to enhance masculinity.
Qualities of the nurse’s feminine role, such as emotionalism and careful consideration of detail, are seen as inefficient leadership abilities and thus hinder women from attaining leadership roles. Therefore, men aspiring for leadership positions avoid associating with fellow female colleagues and associate themselves with physicians who are mostly men (Evans, 1997). The men nurses, thus, are seen as more competent by the physicians, are evaluated better, and play an indirect but significant role in nurses’ positions. Integration of family roles in nursing careers also affects the attainment of leadership. Female nurses are forced to reduce their working hours when they get families to fulfil the cultural expectation of the woman responsible for domestic duties, which is the glass ceiling effect (Intrahealth.org, 2019). However, families for men lead to advancement in their careers as they continue working full time, take up extra shifts to cater for their families and are thus considered for leadership roles and promotions. Hierarchical patriarchy also affects the attainment of power and status by female nurses. This is mainly due to the belief that men are more dominant and command more easily and naturally compared to women, who are considered naturally submissive (Baduge et al., 2023). These beliefs lead to quicker advancement of male nurses to power and education as they are supported by their families and society; thus, female nurses must work even harder to be recognized.
Despite the nursing profession being a female-dominated career, women continue to be discriminated against in leadership and attainment of status based on their gender. Patriarchy continues to prevail as men are given more importance in their careers. Masculinity is enhanced by factors such as social distancing, specialization, male token advantage, hierarchical patriarchy, preference for full-time to part-time roles and assignment of tasks based on the feminine or masculine effect. Therefore, male nurses achieve power and status more easily than female nurses due to their gender, which gives them an added advantage.
References
Baduge, M. S. D. S. P., Garth, B., Boyd, L., Ward, K., Joseph, K., Proimos, J., & Teede, H. J. (2023). Barriers to advancing women nurses in healthcare leadership: a systematic review and meta-synthesis. eClinicalMedicine. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(23)00531-X/fulltext
Evans, J. (1997). Men in nursing: issues of gender segregation and hidden advantage. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26(2), 226-231. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1997.1997026226.x
Intrahealth.org. (2019). Global survey suggests gender-related barriers stifle the leadership potential of nurses. IntraHealth. https://www.intrahealth.org/news/global-survey-suggests-gender-related-barriers-stifle-leadership-potential-nurses
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