Gender differences in career progress in nursing: towards a non-essentialist structural theory

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Professions
• Gender Studies
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Existing literature on gender differences in nursing career progression often relies on essentialist explanations.
• These explanations fail to adequately address the structural factors influencing career advancement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically review existing literature on gender differences in nursing career progress.
• To propose a novel, non-essentialist explanatory framework by synthesizing labor market and neo-Weberian closure theories.
• To lay the groundwork for future empirical research on gender bias in nursing.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of gender differences in nursing careers.
• Critical analysis of labor market theories.
• Critical review of neo-Weberian closure theories.
• Synthesis of selected theoretical domains.

Main Results:

• Current explanations for gender disparities in nursing careers are predominantly essentialist.
• A synthesis of labor market and closure theories offers a non-essentialist perspective.
• Geographical mobility emerges as a significant exclusionary criterion in professional advancement.

Conclusions:

• A non-essentialist framework, integrating labor market dynamics and closure mechanisms, can better explain gender differences in nursing career progress.
• Geographical mobility acts as a tool for exclusion, perpetuating structural gender bias within the nursing profession.
• This synthesized framework provides a robust foundation for empirical investigation into gender equity in nursing.