Cracking the glass ceiling

In my travels, I have had the opportunity to speak to a number of male nursing students who underscored the need for men in nursing to pursue leadership. While some nurse leaders dismiss the significance of the gender gap, it has a profound impact on how men progress in the profession. Seeing nurses, who are male, in leadership roles provides inspiration to budding clinicians and scholars. Additionally, it sends an important tangible message that, with hard work and perseverance, men can carve their path in a female-dominated profession. For men who enter schools of nursing or are employed at hospitals that lack gender diversity, it is not as easy as it may seem.

I recall one of my female colleagues in medicine sharing how she attended a conference where she was the only female on a panel. I could feel her angst as she described her discomfort. Reflecting upon our conversation made me realize nursing’s moral obligation to develop pathways that increase the number of men at the bedside as well as at the administrative level. There is no doubt in my mind that men in nursing still experience marginalization. However, I am encouraged by initiatives promulgated by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and others to diversify the profession by gender.

To dispel myths that, unfortunately, are still pervasive, it is essential that men be visible at the bedside and at academic and administrative levels. The transition has begun, and I am thrilled. I charge all schools of nursing to not only think about recruitment, but also consider developing clinical and administrative pathways that allow men to continue cracking the glass ceiling.

Photo credit: Comstock Images/Thinkstock
For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.