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Acceptance of Female Pharmacists by the Public
Acceptance of
Female Pharmacists by the Public By Robert M. Gray and Herbert L. Gleason
T
he purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study that was conducted to determine whether residents of a western state would be as willing to accept service from a female as a male pharmacist. Documenting the importance of the study are disclosures that females are entering the pharmacy profession in increasing numbers to the point where nearly eight percent of the active pharmacists in this country are females. 1 The entrance of females into pharmacy is consistent with recent developments in the medical profession as a whole, and numerous occupations wherein women increasingly are entering into roles that have customarily been reserved for males. 2 - 6 One of the main reasons why females are en;_ tering specifically the medical field in greater numbers is the fact that the demand for such services is increasing at accelerated rates and new positions are becoming available to females. 4- 6 A further reason why females are entering medical and other related fields in increasing numbers is because societal values have changed to the point where women are increasingly being accepted into these fields as equals to males. 5 These trends, which resolve to some extent critical manpower shortages7 raise the question as to how well women are going to be accepted, for example, into the pharmacy profession by a public that is traditionally oriented to male practitioners in the medical field with the exception of nursing which has traditionally been a female role function. 8 The introduction of women into medical institutions has come about slowly as pointed out by Williams 9 whose analysis of the responses of a sample of 100 middle-class women and a second sample made up of one class in medical school, disclosed that an overwhelming majority of both samples
preferred a male as opposed to a female physician. The study results indicated that the subjects believed that men were more emotionally stable and would make better physicians. A ft,1rther study 10 conducted on the basis of a questionnaire administered to 697 male and 1,040 female physicians disclosed the fact that while females increasingly are entering the physician role, they as yet have less prestige than male physicians. Nonetheless, females are entering the medical field in increasing numbers and leaders in pharmacy as well as other medical specialties are moving to insure that their entrance wilrproceed smoothly and efficiently. In order to accomplish this goal it becomes important to develop further dependable knowledge as to the public attitudes towards females in the pharmacist role. This information is important to those concerned with developing educational and training programs in pharmacy as well as for those interested in the growing problem of delivering medical care to all segments of the population. On the basis of studies previously conducted relative to the acceptance of females in other occupational roles our assumption would be that females would not be acceptable as readily as would males, but they would be approved by a large proportion of the public. Furthermore, we would expect that many persons, particularly females, would prefer to deal with a female rather than a male pharmacist in many instances. In order to test these assumptions it was hypothesized that a larger proportion of the study participants would prefer to interact with a male pharmacist than they would with a female pharmacist. It was further hypothesized that many persons would prefer to deal with a female pharmacist in many instances. The remainder of this paper reports
the results obtained when these hypotheses were tested utilizing the responses of persons considered representative of a large segment of the public. The study hypotheses were tested by analyzing data obtained from questionnaires collected as a part of a statewide health survey of mothers with at least one child under five years of age. The mothers were selected from eight communities in a western state by means of a two-stage area probability sample. 11 Of the total number of interviews attempted, 890 or 85 percent were completed. Sixty-four of these had to be dropped for purposes of analysis due to incomplete data. In the remaining sample of respondents, ages were found to range from 16 to 55 with an average age of 30.9. The average level of education was 12.5 years. Approximately 65 percent of the respondents were from rural communities (under 1Q,OOO in population) and less than five percent were widowed, divorced or separated at the time of the mterview. Each subject in addition to providing data relative to her health behavior was asked the question as to whether or not she was favorable toward being served by male and female pharmacists. Socio-economic status was determined by means of Hollingshead's (1957) Two Factor Index of Social Positioq. 12 Findings
Data relative to the first hypothesis are contained in Table I (page 626) and these data disclose that the female respondents as expected were more favorable to having a male pharmacist deal with them as compared to a female pharmacist. As may be seen by viewing this table, 94 percent of the subjects were positive in their attitudes toward male pharmacists, while 70 percent Vol. NS13, No. 11, November 1973
625
Robert Gray is a professor of sociology at the University of Utah where he is director of the medical sociology program. He was formerly chief of the division of behavioral science in the college of medicine at the same university. He is presently participating in the Visiting Lecturer Program sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. His research interests include behavioral factors involved in the delivery of health care and patient-practitioner interaction.
Herbert Gleason is a graduate research assistant in the medical sociology program at the University of Utah where he is working on his PhD. His main research interests are delivery of health care to minority and other hard-to-reach persons. He has conducted research on compliance problems of arthritic patients, and mental health levels of pharmacy patrons.
TABLE I
Attitudes of Community Subjects Toward Male and Female Pharmacists* Approve Being Served. By Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
Disapproval
Approval
%
%
n
94% 70%
(777)
(543)*
6% 30%
n (49) (235)*
*Variations in the number of respondents in this and the following tables from the total sample N of 826 are due to the fact that not all subjects answered each question.
TABLE II
A Comparison of Younger and Older Community Subjects' Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Subjects 29 Years of Age and Younger Approve Being Served By
%
n
%
n
Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
96% 73%
(397) (303)
4% 27%
(ill)
8% 34%
(33) (124)
Approval
Disapproval (16)
Subjects 30 Years of Age and Older Male pharmacist Female pharm~cist
(380) (240)
92% 66%
TABLE III
A Comparison of Educated and Less Educated Community Subject Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Subjects With Some College or More Education Approve Being Served By
%
Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
95% 76%
Approval
Disapproval
%
n (211)
(149)
5% 24%
n
(11) (48)
Subjects with a High School Degree or Less Education Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
626
94% 68%
(566) (394)
6% 32%
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
(38) (187)
were favorable toward being served by a female pharmacist. These data support the first hypothesis which stated that a larger proportion of the study participants would prefer to be served by a male pharmacist than they would a female pharmacist. A further test of the hypothesis that females would be more favorable toward interacting with male pharmacists as compared to female pharmacists was made by controlling for age, education, rural-urban residence and socio-economic status. The· results of comparing the subjects' attitudes toward male and female pharmacists while holding age constant appear in Table II (below). These data disclose that while the results once again support the study hypothesis they further reveal that married women under 30 years of age have slightly more favorable attitudes toward female pharmacists (73 percent) than do older married women (66 percent). These limited findings suggest the possibility that attitudes toward female pharmacists will in all likelihood become more favorable as more young persons move into adult roles. When the subjects were compared while holding education constant, the results indicated a preference for male pharmacists as compared to female pharmacists. Somewhat as expected, those persons with at least some college experience were more favorable toward female pharmacists (76 percent) as compared to those women with a high school degree or less (68 percent) (Table III, below). A further comparison while holding constant urban and rural residence differences (Table IV, page 627) provided further support for the assumption that male pharmacists would be preferred as compared to female pharmacists by the participants in this study. The resulting data further indicate that urban women are somewhat more favorable (73 percent) to female pharmacists than are rural females (68 percent). Comparable findings also resulted when the subjects from the upper and middle socio-economic levels were compared with those subjects in the lower socio-economic group. Similar to the foregoing findings, the subjects preferred being served by a male pharmacist. Women in the lower socio-economic group were less favorable toward female pharmacists (65 percent) than were upper and middle class women (71 percent) (Table V, page 627). In summation, the foregoing analysis disclosed that subjects in all categories, i.e., age, education, rural-urban residence and socio-economic status favor being served by a male pharmacist as compared to a female pharmacist approximately 94 percent to 70 percent. These are not unexpected findings as it is
to be expected that males would be preferred in a historically predominately male role. The 70 percent favorable attitude toward female pharmacists is a positive finding considering the recent entrance of females into the pharmacist role. Further insights relative to the acceptance of females in the pharmacist role are provided from the responses of another sample of students enrolled in introd~ctory sociology c~asses in a university located in the same state where the statewide sample subjects reside. These 545 male and 540 female students were asked whether they approved being served by a male and a female pharmacist and how often they had instances when they preferred to be served by a female pharmacist. The results of their responses to the first question appear in Table VI (below) and these data disclose that 92 percent of the males and 93 percent of the females approve using the services of a male pharmacist. These responses are similar to the subjects in the statewide sample wherein 94 percent of the subjects had favorable attitudes toward male pharmacists. On the other hand, an impressive 77 percent of the univ·ersity males and 90 percent of the female students appreciate being served by a female pharmacist. Interestingly, while their responses are similar to the community residents with respect to male pharmacists, their attitudes toward female pharmacists are more favorable. The responses of the university students pertaining to how often they sometimes preferred being served by a female pharmacist are contained in Table VII (page 630). As may be seen by viewing this table, 26 percent of the males and 48 percent of the females sometimes desire interacting with a female pharmacist in preference to a male pharmacist. Reasons given for their preference of a female pharmacist by the students ranged from their being more comfortable in talking about intimate matters to their appreciating the special concern that the female pharmacist expressed in her service role. These several findings indicate that the majority of the subjects in both of the sample investigated in this study have favorable attitudes toward being served by male pharmacists.' Furthermore, an impressively high proportion of both s-a mple subjects have favorable attitudes toward female pharmacists. Finally the foregoing analysis disclosed that approximately one-fourth of the male students and roughly 50 percent of the female students sometimes prefer the services of a female to a male phar-
TABLE IV
A Comparison of Rural and Urban Community Subject Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Approve Being Served By
Approval
The main findings of this paper may be summarized as follows-
n
%
n
(507) (349)
6% 32%
(33) (163)
6% 27%
(16) (72)
Rural Residents Male pharmacists Female pharmacists
94% 68%
Urban Residents Male pharmacists Female phqrmacists
(270) (194)
94% 73%
TABLE V
Comparison of High and Low Socio-Economic Status Community Subjects' Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Approve Being Served By
%
Approval
%
n
Disapproval n
Upper and Middle Socio-economic Status Subjects Male Pharmacists Female Pharmacists
(595) (428)
94 % 71%
6% 29%
(36) (174)
13% 35 %
(13) (61)
Lower Socio-economic Status Subjects Male Pharmacists Female Pharmacists
(182) (115)
93% 65%
TABLE VI
Attitudes of College Students Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Approve Being Served By
pis~pproval
Approval
%
n
%
n
8% 23%
(12~)
7% 10%
(36) (55)
Male College Students Male pharmacists Female pharmacists
92% 77%
(499) (422)
(46)
Female College Students Male pharmacists Female pharmacists
93% 90%
1. Ninety-four percent of the subjects in the sample representative of mothers in a western state have favorable attitudes toward being served by a male pharmacist. 2. Seventy percent of these same subjects have favorable attitudes toward utilizing the services of a female pharmacist. 3. Approximately these same percentages hold when the mothers' attitudes were analyzed while holding constant ruralurban, residence, age, education and socio-economic status.
mac~st.
Summary and Conclusions
Disapproval
%
4. A similar percentage of a sample of university students approve using the services of a male pharmacist when needed.
(504) (485)
5. Seventy-seven percent of the male and 90 percent of the female university students are favorable to being served by a female pharmacist. These results disclose that university males were seven percent more favorable to being served by a female pharmacist than were the community mothers. Similarly, the university women were 20 percent more favorable to females functioning in the pharmacist role than were the community subjects. 6. Slightly more than one fourth of the males and .forty-eight percent of the female university students reported that they sometimes prefer to have a female pharmacist serve them as compared to a male pharmacist. (collfinued
011
page 630)
Vol. NS13, No. 11, November 1973
627
Acceptance of Female
Phar~acists
(contilrued f rpm page 627)
··
In conclusion, although the foregoing findings are by ·no means conclusive, they .do indicate that both -the male and . female pharmacist have a ·r elatively high
of the study subjects, especially females, sometimes prefer utilizing the services of a female as compared to a male pharmacist . Finally, the study results which indicate that younger persons are more
TABLE VII
Attitudes of College Students Toward Desiring Services of A Female Pharmadst Over ~ Mal~ Pharmacist in Specific Instances Prefer Being Served By a Female Pharmacist
Often Spmetimes Never
%
n
%
n
0% 26 % 74 %
(0) (140) (405)
7% 41 % 52%
(40) (360) (685)
image among the participants in this study: Thes~ fi-ndings further indicate that while a larger percent~ge of community residents prefer to be served by a inale pharmacist ~ a sizeable proportion
Gratification or
Females
Males
Discrimin~tion?
favorable to female pharmacists than are older persons, suggests that the proportion of persons accepting females in tpe pharmacist role will in all likeli~ood increase in the future. • ·
neighborhoods) and (c) "the future of pharmacy is too uncertain. "
(continued from page 613)
The data in Table X (below) show the rankings of the reasons given by the women who would not recommend pharmacy to an · interested girl. Since only 95 women n{ade up the sample for this analysis no separate analyses wer~ made. Only three reasons received any significant mention- (a) · "work is not challenging or ·w orth ·five years education," (b) "bad working conditions" (r.eferring to evening hour.s · in bad
Conclusion The influence of women in pharmacy should become more apparent in the coming years if their numbers continue to iqcrease at ·a proportionally higher rate than men. The women pharma~ d sts in this study appeared to have positiye attitudes toward the opportunities for women in pharmacy. Sex discrimination did not seem to be as evident as one might have thought since
TABLE X
Reasons Why Respondents Wpuld Not Recommend a Pharma~y Career to an Interested Girl Reasons Work
i~
not challenging or worth five years' educatio n
Woman
P~armacists
N
Percent
33
34 . 7
Bad working conditions .
25
26.3
The future of pharmacy is too uncertain
19
20 . 0
7
7.4
No job opportunities Too much sex discrimination
5
5.3
Work is too hard for a woman
2
2.1
2
2.1
Women are not accepted as pharmacists Other reas ons given Total respondents
16 95*
*Seven women said they would n ot r ecomm en d a pharmac~ career but did not report any reasons why.
630
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUT·ICAL ASSOCIATION
References 1. Mahaffey, F.T., and Pennell, M.Y., "Health Manpower-U .S. 1965-1967," Series 1T1 q, U .S . Department of Hea lth, Education, a n d Welfare, Washington, D.C. (1968) 2. Fay, M.,"Women Physicians in the 21st Centur y," J. of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 21, No. 10 (O ct. 1966) . 3. Lahe, A.," Drop Those Prejudices Again st Women Doctor s," J . of Am. Med. Women's Assn. , 22, No .6 (J u n e 1967) 4 . Roberts, S., "Demand," J . of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 22, No.7 (Jul y 1967) 5. Yawazaki, R., " The Dema nd for Medical Women," J. of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 22, No. 7 (J uly 1967 ) 6 . Storie, M ., "Supply," J. of Am. Med. Wo men's Assn., 21, No. 10 (Oct. 1966). 7 . Fein, R ., "The Doctor Shortage," The Brookin gs I nstitute, Washington, D.C. (1967) 8. Fox, D .J . and Steinman, A . "Male and F emale Physician's Perceptions of Ideal F eminine Roles," J. of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 22, No. 3 (Marc h 1967) 9. Williams, J., " Patience and Prejudice, Lay A ttitudes Towa rd Women Physicians," A m. J . of Soc., 5 1 (J a n. 1946) . "Women P hysicia n Dilemma," J. of Soc. Issues, 6, No. 3 (1950) 10 . Dykmann, R .A. , and Stalnaker, J.N ., "Sur vey of Women P hysicia ns Graduating From Medi~a l School, 1925-1940," J. of Med. Educ., 32, P a r t 2 (March 1952 ) 11. Kish, L., Survey Sampling, New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (1965) 12 . Bonjean, C.U., Hill, R., and McLemore, S.D ., Sociological Measurement-An Inventory of Scales and Indices, Chandler Publishing Co., Sa n Francisco, Calif. (1967)
recent attention has been given to equal rights for women. Pharmacy leaders should be made aware ·of this favorable outlook toward the f uture roles of women pharmacists and attempts made to involve women more in pharmacy organizations. Women pharmacists could make unique contributions to improve the profession, and means should be made available to bring them into leadership positions at the local, state and national levels. • References 1. Horton, J.P., "Women and Pharmacy in the 1970's," paper presented at Women and P harmacy Symposium, Philadelphia, Pa. (Feb . 21, 1970) 2. A n dersen, M .L., "Where Do We Go F r om H er e?," paper presented at Women and Pharmacy Symposium, P hila delphia, P a. (Feb. 21, 1970) 3. Fleisher, R.T., "There Is Nothing Like A Dame," P.A.R.D . Bulletin, 12 (1970) 4. "Herstory: Walgreen Women In Pharmacy," Walgreen World, 38, 2 (1971) 5. "Phqrmacy Pl a nners Are Girl-Watching," Pharmacy News, 11, 2 (1970) 6. Underutilization of Women Workers, U .S. Department of Labor, Washington D.C ., iv (1971) 7. Scotch, C .B., " Sex Status I n Social Work: G r ist for Women's Liberation," Social Work, 16, 6 (1971) . . 8. Lewin, A .Y., and Duchan, L., "Women In Academia," Science, 173, 892 (1971) 9 . Lewis, E.C., "Developing Woman's Potential," Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, 118 (1968) 10. Austin, J.E. , a nd Smith, M.C., "Women I n Hospital Pha rmacy-A Study In Eight States," Amer. J. H osp. Pharm., 28, 35 (1971) 11 . Horton, op. cit. 12. Bolger, R.J., "The Professiona l Woman As An Employee," Am er. J. Pharm., 143, 138 (1971) 13. Horton, op . cit. 14. Lewis, op. cit., 133-134 15 . Underutilization of Women Workers, op . cit. 16. Women In 1970, Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Washington D.C., 10 (1971) 17. "A Pharm a cy School Gea red For Women?," Amer. Drug., 163, 20 (1971)
Female Pharmacists by the Public By Robert M. Gray and Herbert L. Gleason
T
he purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study that was conducted to determine whether residents of a western state would be as willing to accept service from a female as a male pharmacist. Documenting the importance of the study are disclosures that females are entering the pharmacy profession in increasing numbers to the point where nearly eight percent of the active pharmacists in this country are females. 1 The entrance of females into pharmacy is consistent with recent developments in the medical profession as a whole, and numerous occupations wherein women increasingly are entering into roles that have customarily been reserved for males. 2 - 6 One of the main reasons why females are en;_ tering specifically the medical field in greater numbers is the fact that the demand for such services is increasing at accelerated rates and new positions are becoming available to females. 4- 6 A further reason why females are entering medical and other related fields in increasing numbers is because societal values have changed to the point where women are increasingly being accepted into these fields as equals to males. 5 These trends, which resolve to some extent critical manpower shortages7 raise the question as to how well women are going to be accepted, for example, into the pharmacy profession by a public that is traditionally oriented to male practitioners in the medical field with the exception of nursing which has traditionally been a female role function. 8 The introduction of women into medical institutions has come about slowly as pointed out by Williams 9 whose analysis of the responses of a sample of 100 middle-class women and a second sample made up of one class in medical school, disclosed that an overwhelming majority of both samples
preferred a male as opposed to a female physician. The study results indicated that the subjects believed that men were more emotionally stable and would make better physicians. A ft,1rther study 10 conducted on the basis of a questionnaire administered to 697 male and 1,040 female physicians disclosed the fact that while females increasingly are entering the physician role, they as yet have less prestige than male physicians. Nonetheless, females are entering the medical field in increasing numbers and leaders in pharmacy as well as other medical specialties are moving to insure that their entrance wilrproceed smoothly and efficiently. In order to accomplish this goal it becomes important to develop further dependable knowledge as to the public attitudes towards females in the pharmacist role. This information is important to those concerned with developing educational and training programs in pharmacy as well as for those interested in the growing problem of delivering medical care to all segments of the population. On the basis of studies previously conducted relative to the acceptance of females in other occupational roles our assumption would be that females would not be acceptable as readily as would males, but they would be approved by a large proportion of the public. Furthermore, we would expect that many persons, particularly females, would prefer to deal with a female rather than a male pharmacist in many instances. In order to test these assumptions it was hypothesized that a larger proportion of the study participants would prefer to interact with a male pharmacist than they would with a female pharmacist. It was further hypothesized that many persons would prefer to deal with a female pharmacist in many instances. The remainder of this paper reports
the results obtained when these hypotheses were tested utilizing the responses of persons considered representative of a large segment of the public. The study hypotheses were tested by analyzing data obtained from questionnaires collected as a part of a statewide health survey of mothers with at least one child under five years of age. The mothers were selected from eight communities in a western state by means of a two-stage area probability sample. 11 Of the total number of interviews attempted, 890 or 85 percent were completed. Sixty-four of these had to be dropped for purposes of analysis due to incomplete data. In the remaining sample of respondents, ages were found to range from 16 to 55 with an average age of 30.9. The average level of education was 12.5 years. Approximately 65 percent of the respondents were from rural communities (under 1Q,OOO in population) and less than five percent were widowed, divorced or separated at the time of the mterview. Each subject in addition to providing data relative to her health behavior was asked the question as to whether or not she was favorable toward being served by male and female pharmacists. Socio-economic status was determined by means of Hollingshead's (1957) Two Factor Index of Social Positioq. 12 Findings
Data relative to the first hypothesis are contained in Table I (page 626) and these data disclose that the female respondents as expected were more favorable to having a male pharmacist deal with them as compared to a female pharmacist. As may be seen by viewing this table, 94 percent of the subjects were positive in their attitudes toward male pharmacists, while 70 percent Vol. NS13, No. 11, November 1973
625
Robert Gray is a professor of sociology at the University of Utah where he is director of the medical sociology program. He was formerly chief of the division of behavioral science in the college of medicine at the same university. He is presently participating in the Visiting Lecturer Program sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. His research interests include behavioral factors involved in the delivery of health care and patient-practitioner interaction.
Herbert Gleason is a graduate research assistant in the medical sociology program at the University of Utah where he is working on his PhD. His main research interests are delivery of health care to minority and other hard-to-reach persons. He has conducted research on compliance problems of arthritic patients, and mental health levels of pharmacy patrons.
TABLE I
Attitudes of Community Subjects Toward Male and Female Pharmacists* Approve Being Served. By Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
Disapproval
Approval
%
%
n
94% 70%
(777)
(543)*
6% 30%
n (49) (235)*
*Variations in the number of respondents in this and the following tables from the total sample N of 826 are due to the fact that not all subjects answered each question.
TABLE II
A Comparison of Younger and Older Community Subjects' Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Subjects 29 Years of Age and Younger Approve Being Served By
%
n
%
n
Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
96% 73%
(397) (303)
4% 27%
(ill)
8% 34%
(33) (124)
Approval
Disapproval (16)
Subjects 30 Years of Age and Older Male pharmacist Female pharm~cist
(380) (240)
92% 66%
TABLE III
A Comparison of Educated and Less Educated Community Subject Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Subjects With Some College or More Education Approve Being Served By
%
Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
95% 76%
Approval
Disapproval
%
n (211)
(149)
5% 24%
n
(11) (48)
Subjects with a High School Degree or Less Education Male pharmacist Female pharmacist
626
94% 68%
(566) (394)
6% 32%
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
(38) (187)
were favorable toward being served by a female pharmacist. These data support the first hypothesis which stated that a larger proportion of the study participants would prefer to be served by a male pharmacist than they would a female pharmacist. A further test of the hypothesis that females would be more favorable toward interacting with male pharmacists as compared to female pharmacists was made by controlling for age, education, rural-urban residence and socio-economic status. The· results of comparing the subjects' attitudes toward male and female pharmacists while holding age constant appear in Table II (below). These data disclose that while the results once again support the study hypothesis they further reveal that married women under 30 years of age have slightly more favorable attitudes toward female pharmacists (73 percent) than do older married women (66 percent). These limited findings suggest the possibility that attitudes toward female pharmacists will in all likelihood become more favorable as more young persons move into adult roles. When the subjects were compared while holding education constant, the results indicated a preference for male pharmacists as compared to female pharmacists. Somewhat as expected, those persons with at least some college experience were more favorable toward female pharmacists (76 percent) as compared to those women with a high school degree or less (68 percent) (Table III, below). A further comparison while holding constant urban and rural residence differences (Table IV, page 627) provided further support for the assumption that male pharmacists would be preferred as compared to female pharmacists by the participants in this study. The resulting data further indicate that urban women are somewhat more favorable (73 percent) to female pharmacists than are rural females (68 percent). Comparable findings also resulted when the subjects from the upper and middle socio-economic levels were compared with those subjects in the lower socio-economic group. Similar to the foregoing findings, the subjects preferred being served by a male pharmacist. Women in the lower socio-economic group were less favorable toward female pharmacists (65 percent) than were upper and middle class women (71 percent) (Table V, page 627). In summation, the foregoing analysis disclosed that subjects in all categories, i.e., age, education, rural-urban residence and socio-economic status favor being served by a male pharmacist as compared to a female pharmacist approximately 94 percent to 70 percent. These are not unexpected findings as it is
to be expected that males would be preferred in a historically predominately male role. The 70 percent favorable attitude toward female pharmacists is a positive finding considering the recent entrance of females into the pharmacist role. Further insights relative to the acceptance of females in the pharmacist role are provided from the responses of another sample of students enrolled in introd~ctory sociology c~asses in a university located in the same state where the statewide sample subjects reside. These 545 male and 540 female students were asked whether they approved being served by a male and a female pharmacist and how often they had instances when they preferred to be served by a female pharmacist. The results of their responses to the first question appear in Table VI (below) and these data disclose that 92 percent of the males and 93 percent of the females approve using the services of a male pharmacist. These responses are similar to the subjects in the statewide sample wherein 94 percent of the subjects had favorable attitudes toward male pharmacists. On the other hand, an impressive 77 percent of the univ·ersity males and 90 percent of the female students appreciate being served by a female pharmacist. Interestingly, while their responses are similar to the community residents with respect to male pharmacists, their attitudes toward female pharmacists are more favorable. The responses of the university students pertaining to how often they sometimes preferred being served by a female pharmacist are contained in Table VII (page 630). As may be seen by viewing this table, 26 percent of the males and 48 percent of the females sometimes desire interacting with a female pharmacist in preference to a male pharmacist. Reasons given for their preference of a female pharmacist by the students ranged from their being more comfortable in talking about intimate matters to their appreciating the special concern that the female pharmacist expressed in her service role. These several findings indicate that the majority of the subjects in both of the sample investigated in this study have favorable attitudes toward being served by male pharmacists.' Furthermore, an impressively high proportion of both s-a mple subjects have favorable attitudes toward female pharmacists. Finally the foregoing analysis disclosed that approximately one-fourth of the male students and roughly 50 percent of the female students sometimes prefer the services of a female to a male phar-
TABLE IV
A Comparison of Rural and Urban Community Subject Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Approve Being Served By
Approval
The main findings of this paper may be summarized as follows-
n
%
n
(507) (349)
6% 32%
(33) (163)
6% 27%
(16) (72)
Rural Residents Male pharmacists Female pharmacists
94% 68%
Urban Residents Male pharmacists Female phqrmacists
(270) (194)
94% 73%
TABLE V
Comparison of High and Low Socio-Economic Status Community Subjects' Attitudes Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Approve Being Served By
%
Approval
%
n
Disapproval n
Upper and Middle Socio-economic Status Subjects Male Pharmacists Female Pharmacists
(595) (428)
94 % 71%
6% 29%
(36) (174)
13% 35 %
(13) (61)
Lower Socio-economic Status Subjects Male Pharmacists Female Pharmacists
(182) (115)
93% 65%
TABLE VI
Attitudes of College Students Toward Male and Female Pharmacists Approve Being Served By
pis~pproval
Approval
%
n
%
n
8% 23%
(12~)
7% 10%
(36) (55)
Male College Students Male pharmacists Female pharmacists
92% 77%
(499) (422)
(46)
Female College Students Male pharmacists Female pharmacists
93% 90%
1. Ninety-four percent of the subjects in the sample representative of mothers in a western state have favorable attitudes toward being served by a male pharmacist. 2. Seventy percent of these same subjects have favorable attitudes toward utilizing the services of a female pharmacist. 3. Approximately these same percentages hold when the mothers' attitudes were analyzed while holding constant ruralurban, residence, age, education and socio-economic status.
mac~st.
Summary and Conclusions
Disapproval
%
4. A similar percentage of a sample of university students approve using the services of a male pharmacist when needed.
(504) (485)
5. Seventy-seven percent of the male and 90 percent of the female university students are favorable to being served by a female pharmacist. These results disclose that university males were seven percent more favorable to being served by a female pharmacist than were the community mothers. Similarly, the university women were 20 percent more favorable to females functioning in the pharmacist role than were the community subjects. 6. Slightly more than one fourth of the males and .forty-eight percent of the female university students reported that they sometimes prefer to have a female pharmacist serve them as compared to a male pharmacist. (collfinued
011
page 630)
Vol. NS13, No. 11, November 1973
627
Acceptance of Female
Phar~acists
(contilrued f rpm page 627)
··
In conclusion, although the foregoing findings are by ·no means conclusive, they .do indicate that both -the male and . female pharmacist have a ·r elatively high
of the study subjects, especially females, sometimes prefer utilizing the services of a female as compared to a male pharmacist . Finally, the study results which indicate that younger persons are more
TABLE VII
Attitudes of College Students Toward Desiring Services of A Female Pharmadst Over ~ Mal~ Pharmacist in Specific Instances Prefer Being Served By a Female Pharmacist
Often Spmetimes Never
%
n
%
n
0% 26 % 74 %
(0) (140) (405)
7% 41 % 52%
(40) (360) (685)
image among the participants in this study: Thes~ fi-ndings further indicate that while a larger percent~ge of community residents prefer to be served by a inale pharmacist ~ a sizeable proportion
Gratification or
Females
Males
Discrimin~tion?
favorable to female pharmacists than are older persons, suggests that the proportion of persons accepting females in tpe pharmacist role will in all likeli~ood increase in the future. • ·
neighborhoods) and (c) "the future of pharmacy is too uncertain. "
(continued from page 613)
The data in Table X (below) show the rankings of the reasons given by the women who would not recommend pharmacy to an · interested girl. Since only 95 women n{ade up the sample for this analysis no separate analyses wer~ made. Only three reasons received any significant mention- (a) · "work is not challenging or ·w orth ·five years education," (b) "bad working conditions" (r.eferring to evening hour.s · in bad
Conclusion The influence of women in pharmacy should become more apparent in the coming years if their numbers continue to iqcrease at ·a proportionally higher rate than men. The women pharma~ d sts in this study appeared to have positiye attitudes toward the opportunities for women in pharmacy. Sex discrimination did not seem to be as evident as one might have thought since
TABLE X
Reasons Why Respondents Wpuld Not Recommend a Pharma~y Career to an Interested Girl Reasons Work
i~
not challenging or worth five years' educatio n
Woman
P~armacists
N
Percent
33
34 . 7
Bad working conditions .
25
26.3
The future of pharmacy is too uncertain
19
20 . 0
7
7.4
No job opportunities Too much sex discrimination
5
5.3
Work is too hard for a woman
2
2.1
2
2.1
Women are not accepted as pharmacists Other reas ons given Total respondents
16 95*
*Seven women said they would n ot r ecomm en d a pharmac~ career but did not report any reasons why.
630
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUT·ICAL ASSOCIATION
References 1. Mahaffey, F.T., and Pennell, M.Y., "Health Manpower-U .S. 1965-1967," Series 1T1 q, U .S . Department of Hea lth, Education, a n d Welfare, Washington, D.C. (1968) 2. Fay, M.,"Women Physicians in the 21st Centur y," J. of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 21, No. 10 (O ct. 1966) . 3. Lahe, A.," Drop Those Prejudices Again st Women Doctor s," J . of Am. Med. Women's Assn. , 22, No .6 (J u n e 1967) 4 . Roberts, S., "Demand," J . of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 22, No.7 (Jul y 1967) 5. Yawazaki, R., " The Dema nd for Medical Women," J. of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 22, No. 7 (J uly 1967 ) 6 . Storie, M ., "Supply," J. of Am. Med. Wo men's Assn., 21, No. 10 (Oct. 1966). 7 . Fein, R ., "The Doctor Shortage," The Brookin gs I nstitute, Washington, D.C. (1967) 8. Fox, D .J . and Steinman, A . "Male and F emale Physician's Perceptions of Ideal F eminine Roles," J. of Am. Med. Women's Assn., 22, No. 3 (Marc h 1967) 9. Williams, J., " Patience and Prejudice, Lay A ttitudes Towa rd Women Physicians," A m. J . of Soc., 5 1 (J a n. 1946) . "Women P hysicia n Dilemma," J. of Soc. Issues, 6, No. 3 (1950) 10 . Dykmann, R .A. , and Stalnaker, J.N ., "Sur vey of Women P hysicia ns Graduating From Medi~a l School, 1925-1940," J. of Med. Educ., 32, P a r t 2 (March 1952 ) 11. Kish, L., Survey Sampling, New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (1965) 12 . Bonjean, C.U., Hill, R., and McLemore, S.D ., Sociological Measurement-An Inventory of Scales and Indices, Chandler Publishing Co., Sa n Francisco, Calif. (1967)
recent attention has been given to equal rights for women. Pharmacy leaders should be made aware ·of this favorable outlook toward the f uture roles of women pharmacists and attempts made to involve women more in pharmacy organizations. Women pharmacists could make unique contributions to improve the profession, and means should be made available to bring them into leadership positions at the local, state and national levels. • References 1. Horton, J.P., "Women and Pharmacy in the 1970's," paper presented at Women and P harmacy Symposium, Philadelphia, Pa. (Feb . 21, 1970) 2. A n dersen, M .L., "Where Do We Go F r om H er e?," paper presented at Women and Pharmacy Symposium, P hila delphia, P a. (Feb. 21, 1970) 3. Fleisher, R.T., "There Is Nothing Like A Dame," P.A.R.D . Bulletin, 12 (1970) 4. "Herstory: Walgreen Women In Pharmacy," Walgreen World, 38, 2 (1971) 5. "Phqrmacy Pl a nners Are Girl-Watching," Pharmacy News, 11, 2 (1970) 6. Underutilization of Women Workers, U .S. Department of Labor, Washington D.C ., iv (1971) 7. Scotch, C .B., " Sex Status I n Social Work: G r ist for Women's Liberation," Social Work, 16, 6 (1971) . . 8. Lewin, A .Y., and Duchan, L., "Women In Academia," Science, 173, 892 (1971) 9 . Lewis, E.C., "Developing Woman's Potential," Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, 118 (1968) 10. Austin, J.E. , a nd Smith, M.C., "Women I n Hospital Pha rmacy-A Study In Eight States," Amer. J. H osp. Pharm., 28, 35 (1971) 11 . Horton, op. cit. 12. Bolger, R.J., "The Professiona l Woman As An Employee," Am er. J. Pharm., 143, 138 (1971) 13. Horton, op . cit. 14. Lewis, op. cit., 133-134 15 . Underutilization of Women Workers, op . cit. 16. Women In 1970, Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Washington D.C., 10 (1971) 17. "A Pharm a cy School Gea red For Women?," Amer. Drug., 163, 20 (1971)