Bridging the Gender Gap

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Are You Cut Out To Be A Medical Assistant Or Should You Go For Something Else?

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Is There Still A Gender Gap???

Nobody knows for sure what the actual number of men working in medical assisting roles is, but it goes without a doubt, it remains remarkably low. There are definitely more women than men working in the various disciplines the medical assisting career provides.

Male medical assistants working probably represent less than ten percent of all medical assistants employed! There is little theoretical research on why there are so many more women than men working in medical assisting positions. Perhaps it goes back to old traditions where women are more apt to be led into in care giving and nursing professions. This gender bias probably begins as early as middle, and high school.

Student Experiment

Students in grades 7 and 11 were asked, as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), how often they had tried to fix something electrical, fix something mechanical, or figure out what was wrong with an unhealthy plant or animal. Female students in grade 7 were three times more likely than males to report that they had never fixed something electrical or mechanical; in grade 11, the differences were even greater.

Ninety-three percent of 11th grade males but only 66 percent of 11th grade females reported having tried to "fix something electrical" at least once.

Gender differences were reversed for the unhealthy plant or animal question, with female students significantly more likely than males to have tried to determine what was wrong with an unhealthy plant (Weiss, 1989: Attitude Graph 11). Experiences students have had are closely linked to their interests. Studies of junior high school students have shown that both sexes are unaware of career options and the educational requirements involved.

To make the medical assisting career more attractive to men careers in medicine and health care a supportive learning environment helps build the bridge. The boundless opportunities medical assisting provides to everybody regardless of gender should be discussed to increase interest as well as to change attitudes. You can read more about male medical assistants at Medical Assistant Net.