TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page . . . . . . . . . i
Approval . . . . . . . . . ii
Certification . . . . . . . . . iii
Dedication . . . . . . . . . iv
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . v
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . vi
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . viii
List of Figure . . . . . . . . . ix
List of Appendices. . . . . . . . . x
Abstract . . . . . . . . . xii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . 1
Statement of Problem . . . . . . 3
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . 5
Research Questions . . . . . . . . 5
Significance of the Study . . . . . . . 6
Scope of the Study . . . . . . . . 6
Operational Definition of Terms . . . . 7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Review- – – – – – – – – 9
Concept of Nursing- – – – – – – – – 9
Brief Historical Background of Nursing- – – – 12
Gender Related Issues in Nursing- – – – – 12
Males in Nursing- – – – – – – 15
Concept of Career Choice- – – – – – – 17
Factors that Influence Career Choice- – – – 18
Restraints to Choice of Career- – – – – 20
The Need for Gender Balance in Nursing Profession- – 24
Strategies to Enhance Male Enrolment in Nursing Programme- – 26
Review of Related Theory- – – – – – 28
John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice- – – – – 28
Application of the Theory to the Study- – – – 30
Adopted Model from John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice- – 32
Empirical Review- – – – – – – 32
Summary of the Literature Review- – – – – – 34
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODS
Research Design . . . . . . . . 36
Area of Study . . . . . . . 36
Population of the Study . . . . . 37
Sample . . . . . . . 37
Inclusion Criteria . . . . . . 37
Sampling Procedure . . . . . . 37
Instrument for Data Collection . . . . 39
Validity of the Instrument . . . . . 39
Reliability of the Instrument . . . . . 39
Ethical Consideration . . . . . 40
Procedure for Data Collection- – – – 40
Method of Data Analysis . . . . . 41
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
Demographic Distribution of the Respondents . . 42
Objective 1- – – – – – – – 44
Objective 2- – – – – – – 46
Objective 3- – – – – – – – 48
Objective 4- – – – – – – – 49
Objective 5- – – – – – – – – 51
Objective 6- – – – – – – – 52
Summary of Findings . . . . . . 53
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Discussion of Major Findings – . . . 55
Implication of the Findings . . . . . 67
Limitations of the Study . . . – – 67
Summary . . . . . . . . . 68
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . 69
Recommendations . . . . . . 70
Suggestions for Further Studies . . . . 71
References . . . . . . . . . 72
Appendices . . . . . . . . . 75
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the respondents – 43
Table 2: Personal factors that restrain male SSSIII students from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking . – 45
Table 3: Social/Environmental factors that prevent male SSSIII from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking . – 47
Table 4: Economic factors that discourage male SSSIII students from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking . – 48
Table 5: Job-related factors that hinder male SSSIII from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking . – 50
Table 6: Career-related factors that discourage male SSSIII students from choosing nursing as a career . – 51
Table 7: Mean of responses to individual group of factors with their ranking – – – – – – – 52
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1: Adapted Model from John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice . . . . . . 32
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Title Page
1 Questionnaire . . . . . . 75
2 Informed Consent . . . . . – 80
3 Reliability Test of the Instrument
(Cronbach Alpha) . . . . . – 81
4 Percentage of male enrolment into nursing program in
Nigeria from 1980 to 2000 . . . – 82
5 Personal factors that restrain male SSSIII students
from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking – – 83
6 Social/Environmental factors that prevent male SSSIII from
choosing nursing as a career with their ranking . 84
7 Economic factors that discourage male SSSIII students
from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking – – 85
8 Job-related factors that hinder male SSSIII from choosing nursing as a career with their ranking . . – 86
9 Career-related factors that discourage male SSSIII
students from choosing nursing as a career . . 87
10 Mean of responses to individual group of factors . 88
11 Percentage of male enrolment into nursing program in
Nigeria from 2001 to 2010 . . . . – 89
12 Percentage of male enrolment into school of nursing
UNTH, Enugu from 2001 to 2012 . . . 90
13 Percentage of male enrolment into School of
Nursing at Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka
from 2000 to 2011 . . . . . – 91
14 Percentage of male enrolment into school of nursing ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Enugu from 2002 to 2012 . . . – 92
15 Male secondary schools in Enugu urban – 93
16 Selected schools for the study and their population. 94
17 Identification Letter . . . – 95
18 Approval Letter from Enugu State Post Primary School
Management Board . . . . . – 96
19 Ethical clearance certificate . . . . 97
ABSTRACT
The various
institutions offering nursing programmes have continued to witness very low
male enrollment while female enrollment continue to increase. This situation
created the problem of sex stereotype, gender bias and lack of professional
autonomy which could have been addressed if men were well represented in nursing
profession. This work therefore was aimed at determining the factors
restraining choice of nursing as a career among male SSSIII students in Enugu
Urban. The specific objectives of the study were to ascertain the personal,
social/environmental, economic, job-related, career-related factors as well as
determine which of the group of factors has the most restraining influence in
choosing nursing as a career among male SSSIII students. A cross-sectional
survey design was used for the study which was carried out in 9 secondary
schools in Enugu Urban. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were
used to select the schools. No sampling technique was used to select the
students as all the SSSIII students from the selected schools were involved in
the study. A total population of 638 male SSSIII students from nine (9)
randomly selected secondary schools in Enugu Urban were used for the study. A
self-developed questionnaire in 4 point modified Likert type scale with
reliability of 0.90 was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were
used to analyze data. Results were presented in tables as percentages, means,
and standard deviations. Findings revealed that respondents identified “I don’t
like nursing as a career” (mean 2.8; SD=1.11), “I cannot think of myself being
a nurse” (mean 2.7; SD=1.05) and “Nursing will lower my ego and integrity”
(mean 2.5; SD=1.03) as personal factors that restrain males from choosing
nursing as a career. Findings also showed social and environmental factors that
prevent males from choosing nursing as a career as “People expect nurses to be
women (mean 3.1; SD=0.97), “Nursing has traditionally been viewed as a female
profession” (mean 3.1; SD=0.99) and “Nurses are seen as doctors’ servants (mean
2.9; SD=0.99). “Wanting to be rich/make money (mean 3.0; SD=0.9), “Nursing
being noble but not lucrative” (mean 2.7; SD=0.99) and “Nursing not being
regarded as one of the highly paid jobs” (mean 2.7; SD=0.99) were also
established as economic factors that discourage males from choosing nursing as
a career. Findings also indicated job-related factors that hinder males from
choosing nursing as a career to include “Nurses work during the weekend” (mean
3.1; SD=0.93), “Nursing jobs extend into the night” (mean 3.1; SD=0.91) and
“Most nurses work in the hospital” (mean 3.1; SD=0.94). From the findings, the
career-related factors that restrain males from choosing nursing as a career
are “I did career research on my own” (mean 2.7; SD=0.94) and “I would consider
a career held traditionally by males” (mean 2.5; SD=1.01). Based on the
findings, the job-related group of factors (with group mean 2.8 and SD=0.61)
had the most restraining influence on male SSSIII students in choosing nursing
as a career in Enugu urban. Based on the findings of the present study, the
following conclusions were made: That secondary school students involved in
this study generally identified the factors that restrained males from choosing
nursing as a career. That the issue of
choosing or not choosing nursing as a career do not solely depend on one single
factor; rather it involves the combination and interaction of all the factors
(i.e. personal, social/environmental, economic, job related and career
influential factors) which hinges more on the individual decision to do or not
to do something. It is therefore recommended that the media should present
nursing as a gender neutral profession via strategies such as pictorial
representation of males as nurses, stories of successful males in nursing and
production of home videos where males play the role of nurses. Practicing male
nurses should engage in career promotion programmes in secondary schools.
Career counselors in secondary schools should clearly explain the career
opportunities for males entering nursing.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
In contemporary nursing practice in Nigeria, gender balancing is a topical issue. For decades now, the various institutions offering nursing programmes have continued to witness very low male enrolment, while female enrolment has continued to increase. Solution to the problem seems to be far-fetched Because there is no improvement in male enrollments in nursing programme even though the entry requirement has been made par with other health-related professions that the society hold in high esteem . The 2004 report of the survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Health on student nurses enrolment in Nigerian institutions covering the period of 20 years (1980-2000) indicated that the average percent of male enrolment was 4.0%.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (N & MCN) in its 2005 and 2010 reports on student nurses enrolment gave the average percent male enrolment from 2001 to 2010 as 5.8. Specifically, in the School of Nursing, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, out of a total of 63 students who enrolled in nursing programme in 2010, only 9 were males, and in 2011 and 2012, it was 9 males out of 61 and 6 males out of 60 respectively. The average male enrolment in absolute terms was 10.6%. In the School of Nursing, Bishop Shanahan Hospital, (BSH) Nsukka, the average male student enrolment was also 6 from 2000 to 2010, while in 2011 and 2012, out of 51 and 47 candidates that enrolled, only 3 were males respectively. The scenario was the same in the School of Nursing, Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, (ESUTH) Parklane, Enugu, where average male enrolment in nursing programme was 8 from 2002 to 2011. In 2012, out of 110 candidates that enrolled, only 8 were males. (Admission Files from respective schools, 2001-2012; see appendix XII, XIII and XIV). From the above, it is obvious that the proportion of male enrolment in nursing programmes in Nigerian nursing educational institutions has remained persistently low over the years.
The relatively small number of males enrolling in nursing programme is responsible for the corresponding small proportion of males in nursing profession in Nigeria (Daramola, 2004). Male enrolment into nursing depends on whether the individual choose nursing as a career or not since it is not possible to enroll into a programme without choosing it. Career choice is a complex decision for students since it determines the kind of profession that one intends to enroll in and pursue in life. The decision to choose nursing as a career should be considered as a stepping stone to increasing the enrolment of males into nursing programme. As students try to make career choice while in secondary school, they face problems of matching their career choices with their abilities, school performance and the profession to choose. Today, one has to make due career planning as well as exhaustive career research before making a career choice so as to adjust with the evolving socioeconomic conditions (Wattles, 2009). Most of the secondary school students do not have accurate information about occupational opportunities to help them make appropriate career choice and selection. The selection of a career is among the most critical decisions in a student’s life time. This decision has a far-reaching impact on the person’s future in terms of lifestyle, status, income, security and job satisfaction. The decision for males to choose and enroll in nursing is the basis of this research.
Exploring and finding the various factors that restrain males from choosing nursing as a career may be a solution to low male enrolment into nursing and to the nursing manpower shortage in the long run. According to Hewitt (2010), career choice is influenced by multiple factors such as personality, interest, self concept, culture, identity, role model, social/economic/ environment, stereotypes of gender, globalization and resources (information, financial or economic). These factors may interact to influence or determine males’ aspiration, choice and enrolment to pursue nursing. In order words, the choice a person makes, the values a person holds, the social class in which a person belongs and aspires to belong, the interest the person has, the resources, gender, and career prospective of a profession/occupation, all enter into the decision and choice of a career one choose and enrolls into. Hence, the choice of nursing as a career for males is not merely a decision of a moment but a product of combination of many factors which this study sets out to find as it relates to factors restraining males from choosing nursing as a career.
Statement of Problem
