Dental students' attitude to gender roles

This investigation assessed attitudes held by United States women and men dental students toward professional and sex role concepts. The concepts included: female dental student, male dental student, dentist, adult woman, adult man, wife and husband. These attitudes were evaluated and compared in the context of the students' current and future professional roles and their sex roles. Although there were several differences in attitudes between the two subject groups, the results suggest that the women and men dental students viewed their various roles as consistent with one another. It is particularly important to note that the women dental student is viewed by both gender groups as having professional and sex roles which do not conflict.