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%.