Unleashing the potential: women's development and ways of knowing as a perspective for veterinary medical education

Women now dominate student enrollment in colleges of veterinary medicine in the USA, as well as in other countries. Projections indicate that this will remain a constant. The implications for teaching, learning, mentoring, leadership, professional development, student and faculty diversity, and curriculum structure are enormous. This article provides the groundwork for examining gender diversity in veterinary medical education. Women's development and ways of knowing are identified as paramount for understanding and benefiting students and faculty in their higher education experiences and in their professional lives. Seminal research focusing on women's development and ways of knowing is introduced, summarized, and contrasted to male-centered models, and implications for teaching practice are considered. Our underlying premise is that research about women's moral and intellectual development is relevant to veterinary education and supports the adoption of student-centered approaches to teaching and learning.