The role of psychological androgyny in female students' dental career choices

Studies of the characteristics of graduate students in several made-dominated and female-dominated disciplines suggest that expressivity and instrumentality are related to career choices. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) was administered to female dental and dental hygiene students to determine whether female dental students are stereotypically androgynous and differ from female dental hygiene students in their sex-role behavior and preference. The rationale for this assumption was based on the relatively female exclusiveness of the dental hygiene profession and the notable male dominance of dentistry. The female dental hygiene students were classified by their self-description as being predominantly feminine, the female dental students by their self-description as androgynous. The differences as measured by the BSRI were statistically significant (p = .007).