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submission for thesis.pdf (627.79 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Barriers To Men Entering Undergraduate Dental Hygiene Programs

Darr, Robert Edward
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7376-6494
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471863587

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Dental Hygiene, Ohio State University, Dentistry.
Abstract Dental hygiene has long been a female dominated profession with low gender diversity and no significant increases in male dental hygienist students in decades. Yet evidence shows how diversity can enrich the educational experience and curricula can best be taught in a richly diverse intellectual and social environment.1 It is time that we start to look at barriers to men in the profession, so in the future we can break down these barriers and increase the gender diversity of the dental hygiene profession. This study is meant to explore and identify barriers that may limit males from entering undergraduate dental hygiene programs while also determining whether females and males opinions differ on whether these barriers exist. This was achieved by interviewing male and female first year undergraduate dental hygiene students through the examination of their thoughts, perceptions, and experiences of the dental hygiene profession both before and after they entered their dental hygiene programs. Interviews of 5 male students and 4 female students were transcribed and analyzed to show if any comparisons could be made. Differences between male and female participant’s responses were evident in the interviewing process, specifically in the male student’s experiences before and after they entered their dental hygiene programs. It is through these differences and perceptions of the dental hygiene profession by male students in the study that we can begin to understand what barriers men face entering dental hygiene. Barriers such as female imagery in the profession, stereotypes, public perception, gender discrimination, lack of male role models, isolation in their program, visibility within their program, fear of the unknown, and history of female dominance in the profession can all be identified throughout the interviews. More research is required to confirm or deny that these barriers exist and whether they have an impact on male undergraduate students and their entry into dental hygiene programs.
Rachel Kearney (Advisor)
68 p.
Dental Care; Dentistry
Men in Dental Hygiene, Gender Diversity in the Dental Hygiene Profession

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Darr, R. E. (2016). Barriers To Men Entering Undergraduate Dental Hygiene Programs [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471863587

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Darr, Robert. Barriers To Men Entering Undergraduate Dental Hygiene Programs. 2016. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471863587.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Darr, Robert. "Barriers To Men Entering Undergraduate Dental Hygiene Programs." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471863587

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1471863587
3,183
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.