Gender Differences in Career Expectations, Factors That Influence Career Success, and Perceptions of Leadership in DPT Students
Lauren Douglas, SPT; Elyssa Eichelberger, SPT; Susan Hohenadel, SPT
Faculty Mentors: Kendra Gagnon, PT, Ph.D.; Christina Wisdom, PT, DPT, OCS, CLT
Purpose: The physical therapy (PT) profession is comprised of 69.9% women and 30.1% men. Despite being a female-dominated profession, male PTs are more likely than female PTs to own private practices, hold managerial or administrative positions, be faculty members, and earn higher salaries. Among PT students, male PT students are significantly more likely than female PT students to expect to own a private practice, be a PT manager/administrator, publish articles, and become a faculty member. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are discrepancies between female and male DPT students’ perceptions of factors that influence career success, barriers to career success, career expectations, and leadership perceptions.
Subjects: 110 Doctor of Physical Therapy students from 4 Midwest PT programs
Methods/Materials: An email invitation to participate in an online survey was sent to Chairs of four accredited PT programs. Chairs were asked to forward the email to DPT students. Survey questions included demographic data, factors that influence career success, barriers to career success, career expectations, and perceptions of leadership. Descriptive statistics were calculated using Microsoft Excel.
Results: Average age of respondents was 23.8 years, 74.5% female and 25.5% male. Descriptive statistics revealed some differences between male and female DPT students in perceptions of leadership, career expectations, and factors that influence career success: 88.9% of male respondents perceived themselves as leaders, compared to 75.0% of females. 22.2% of male respondents agreed or strongly agreed that men are more qualified than women for leadership positions, and 40.7% agreed or strongly agreed that men were more suited for leadership roles (compared to 0% and 3.7% of female respondents, respectively) More male than female DPT students reported that, in their future career, they were likely or very likely to complete a fellowship, obtain an additional degree, publish articles, be an administrator, be a faculty member, and/or own a PT practice. More female DPT students reported they were likely or very likely to complete a specialist certification or residency and/or be a staff physical therapist. Female DPT students were more likely than male students to identify family roles, gender, and age as barriers to career success.
Conclusions: Gender discrepancies in PT students’ perceptions of their future careers continue to persist, with a higher number of females indicating gender, family roles, and age are barriers to career success, whereas a higher number of males perceive themselves as leaders and perceive males as more qualified and suited for leadership roles compared to females. Further research is needed to determine if these perceptions carry over into practicing PTs and to discover interventions to bridge the gap in gender perceptions of leadership capabilities.
Lauren Douglas, SPT; Elyssa Eichelberger, SPT; Susan Hohenadel, SPT
Faculty Mentors: Kendra Gagnon, PT, Ph.D.; Christina Wisdom, PT, DPT, OCS, CLT
Purpose: The physical therapy (PT) profession is comprised of 69.9% women and 30.1% men. Despite being a female-dominated profession, male PTs are more likely than female PTs to own private practices, hold managerial or administrative positions, be faculty members, and earn higher salaries. Among PT students, male PT students are significantly more likely than female PT students to expect to own a private practice, be a PT manager/administrator, publish articles, and become a faculty member. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are discrepancies between female and male DPT students’ perceptions of factors that influence career success, barriers to career success, career expectations, and leadership perceptions.
Subjects: 110 Doctor of Physical Therapy students from 4 Midwest PT programs
Methods/Materials: An email invitation to participate in an online survey was sent to Chairs of four accredited PT programs. Chairs were asked to forward the email to DPT students. Survey questions included demographic data, factors that influence career success, barriers to career success, career expectations, and perceptions of leadership. Descriptive statistics were calculated using Microsoft Excel.
Results: Average age of respondents was 23.8 years, 74.5% female and 25.5% male. Descriptive statistics revealed some differences between male and female DPT students in perceptions of leadership, career expectations, and factors that influence career success: 88.9% of male respondents perceived themselves as leaders, compared to 75.0% of females. 22.2% of male respondents agreed or strongly agreed that men are more qualified than women for leadership positions, and 40.7% agreed or strongly agreed that men were more suited for leadership roles (compared to 0% and 3.7% of female respondents, respectively) More male than female DPT students reported that, in their future career, they were likely or very likely to complete a fellowship, obtain an additional degree, publish articles, be an administrator, be a faculty member, and/or own a PT practice. More female DPT students reported they were likely or very likely to complete a specialist certification or residency and/or be a staff physical therapist. Female DPT students were more likely than male students to identify family roles, gender, and age as barriers to career success.
Conclusions: Gender discrepancies in PT students’ perceptions of their future careers continue to persist, with a higher number of females indicating gender, family roles, and age are barriers to career success, whereas a higher number of males perceive themselves as leaders and perceive males as more qualified and suited for leadership roles compared to females. Further research is needed to determine if these perceptions carry over into practicing PTs and to discover interventions to bridge the gap in gender perceptions of leadership capabilities.