There has never been a better time to be a woman in dentistry.
Up until the mid-1970’s, dentists were almost exclusively male. Women struggled
to go to school, obtain a degree, establish practices, and to be respected as
professionals by those in their community. However, all of that has changed
over the last few decades as we experience a gender shift in dentistry. In the mid-1970’s,
only 11.2% of US dentists were female. Now, that number is nearly 50%, and it
is estimated that within the next few years, women will make up the majority of
dentists in America. Two key factors led to this gender shift: the women’s
liberation and civil rights movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s with federal
grants to encourage increasing enrollments of women in professional health
schools, and the impact of birth control on opening the doors for women to a
professional career. No longer willing to be discouraged from seeking careers
equal to their male counterparts, women have seized the opportunity to enter
any profession of their choosing. This gender shift is changing the face of the
dental workforce and raising many questions along the way, including how
feminization will affect work hours, practice models, incomes, dentist-patient
relationships, clinical philosophies, specialty practice, academia, and
leadership.
Throughout history, women have chosen dentistry because it
is intellectually challenging and improves people’s health. Additionally, women
have found that setting their own hours as a dentist allows them to better
manage both a practice and household demands. Dentistry offers a flexible job,
especially for working mothers, but how might a shift from a male to female
majority in the dental field affect dentistry in the future?
According to statistics and evaluations of dental practice
patterns, women are less likely to own their own practices, more likely to work
in urban areas, and are less prominent in the dental specialties. One of the main reasons contributing to this
specialty gender gap is that the duration of specialty education conflicts with
child-bearing years. In an article posted in the Journal of Dentistry, it
states that a staggering 17.9% of female specialists have no children versus
only 0.7% of male specialists. Additionally, a study in Washington state found
that female dentists, particularly those aged 25-40, work 10% fewer days, treat
10% fewer patients, and perform 10% fewer procedures. This would mean that for
every 5% increase in female dentists in the future, 1.2% fewer patients will be
treated annually. Furthermore, because on average, women work less, the same
study found that women’s total annual income is 10% less than men’s. These
statistics suggest that, given the patterns of the female workforce in
dentistry and the increase in females in the field, the profession of dentistry
may shift in the future to less entrepreneurship, more urbanization, and fewer
clinical hours. These changes will entail increases in student enrollment,
formal incentives for practice relocation to rural communities, and more
business education and policies to modify advanced education and training for
women with children.
Despite these statistics, studies have also shown that women
favor a more preventive philosophy, take a more conservative approach to
restoration, and encourage more preventive strategies in early stages of caries
development. They also display more empathy and better communication skills,
and are less rushed and more likely to discuss ailments and procedures with
their patients. Women have been found to have better social skills, be more
humane and caring, and are more responsive to patients’ needs.
It’s clear that men and women differ in a number of ways.
Whether these differences will have major implications in the field of
dentistry in the future is unknown. The current data is too robust to draw any
conclusions in regards to the effects of this pattern of feminization. Future
research, including surveys of US dentists and US dental students, will be
necessary to identify differences in work patterns and to determine goals and
barriers in the dental field. Despite how uncertain the future of this career
may be, I am extremely proud to be a member of The University of Washington
School of Dentistry’s first majority female class, and I look forward to
continuing to challenge the perceptions society has had on women in dentistry.
-Nicole Antol
References: http://www.jcda.ca/article/c1