Attracting men to nursing: what will they find important in their career?

This study was designed to increase understanding of the career choices of men in nontraditional careers such as nursing by exploring what they find important in their career, their sex role identity, and their personality components. The instruments used in the study were the Important Components of a Career Scale, Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Cattell 16 Personality Factor measure. Questionnaire packets were mailed to a total of 1,000 potential respondents in the following five groups: male and female nurses and early educators, and male engineers. The response rate was 46%. The men in nursing (n = 57) and early education (n = 76) valued relationship-oriented components of their careers more than the men in engineering (n = 103) (F [2,233] = 35.39, p less than .01).