The professions within technology, engineering and science have long been dominated by men. However, within some areas of science, especially those which are associated with medicine and care women make up the majority of the work force.
Nursing is a profession that many girls are encouraged into joining and is a socially acceptable career for a woman to take. Any girl at school who shows an interest in becoming a nurse, will generally have plenty of encouragement and support, unlike those girls wishing to study engineering or technology. Since nursing has been a degree subject, student nurses are better trained than in previous years and have a greater understanding of medicine, making their work more challenging intellectually and less about making beds and emptying bed pans. However, it is still a subordinate job to that of being a doctor, and many girls who have medical aspirations are still being encouraged into nursing rather than training to be doctors. Although today we are used to seeing women doctors, only a generation ago a woman doctor was quite rare. This situation is improving. Statistics are hard to find but it has been reported by the British Medical journal that roughly half of the students training to be doctors are women. This can only bode well for the future. It makes sense for the male/female proportion of doctors to match the population and for women looking to make a career in medicine it is really good news.
Who knows, perhaps one day the same will be true for women working in other technical fields such as engineering and technology?
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