Demographics, moral orientation, and veterinary shortages in food animal and laboratory animal medicine

摘要

The demographics of the veterinary profession have changed dramatically in recent years, with the most striking change being the gender shift within the profession. Women comprised just 10% of veterinary practitioners in 1970. In contrast, by 1985, more than 50% of the students attending veterinary schools in the United States were female, and by 1992, that proportion had risen to 64%. Today, just under 80% of students entering veterinary schools in the United States are female, with some veterinaryschool classes being 100% female. Female practitioners outnumber males, and it is estimated that women will comprise 67% of veterinary professionals by 2015.~1 A full discussion of the reasons for this demographic shift is beyond the scope of the presentcommentary, but similar, although less dramatic, changes have been occurring in the other health professions.~(2,3) The recent gender shift is likely to have an economic impact on the veterinary profession. Overall, female veterinarians command lower salaries than do male veterinarians,~4 and studies~(5-9) show that, compared with male veterinarians, female veterinarians work fewer hours, are more likely to seek part-time veterinary employment, and are less likely to own veterinary practices. However,while the changing economic landscape of the veterinary profession has been extensively discussed, other aspects of the gender shift remain to be explored.