Have Women Broken the Glass Ceiling in North American Dental Leadership?

In the last few decades, the number of women graduating from North American (NA) dental schools has increased significantly. Thus, we aimed to determine women's representation in leadership positions in NA dental and specialty associations/organizations, dental education, and dental journals, as well as the proportion of men/women researcher members of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR). We contacted NA dental associations to provide us with the total number and the men/women distribution of their members. Men/women distributions in leadership positions were accessible from the internet, as were data on the sex of deans of NA dental schools. Data on the editors in chief of NA dental journals were gathered from their websites, and the AADR provided the number and sex of its researcher members. Collected data underwent descriptive statistics and binomial tests (α = 0.05). Our findings suggest that women are underrepresented in leadership positions within the major NA dental professional associations. While the median ratio of women leaders to women members in professional associations is 0.91 in Canada, it is only 0.67 in the United States. The same underrepresentation of women is evident in the leadership of the Canadian Dental Association and the American Dental Association. We found that women are underrepresented as deans and editors in chief for NA oral health journals. Only 16 of 77 NA dental school deans are women, while 3 of 38 dental journals have women editors in chief. The probability of finding these ratios by chance is low. However, the number of women dental researcher AADR members underwent an overall increase in the past decade, while the number of men declined. These results suggest that, despite the increase in women dentists, it will take time and effort to ensure that they move through the pipeline to senior leadership positions in the same manner as their male colleagues.

An observational analysis of recent female dental enrolment figures in the Republic of Ireland.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: This research investigates the participation and completion rates of Irish female undergraduate dental students from 2003 to 2014. METHODS: The Higher Education Authority database was accessed and dental students enrolment and completion figures were extracted, compiled and analysed according to gender distribution. RESULT: From 2003 to 2014, there has been a steady increase in the number of female students enrolled in and completing Ireland's undergraduate dentistry programmes. CONCLUSIONS: The findings reveal that a distinct process of feminisation has occurred in Ireland since the early 2000s. The feminisation of dentistry in Ireland will impact on workforce projections for the Irish dental service. However, more research needs to be undertaken to explore why female students are motivated to pursue a career in dentistry. Due regard also needs to be given to ensuring these women progress in their dental career. Dental education can play an important role here.

Women and the world of dentistry.

It was only in 1895 that the first woman dentist in the UK graduated from Edinburgh Dental School, and a further 17 years until a women was granted a dental qualification from The Royal College of Surgeons of England. At around this time cartoons began to appear, flippantly depicting women to be working in a profession regarded by many as masculine. Over the following years women dentists became more accepted, although as recently as the 1960's women were encouraged to enter certain branches of the profession where it was thought that they would be most useful. Government publications of this era encouraged women dentists to join the Maternity and Child Welfare Service and the School Health Service. It was felt that this work would be particularly suitable for them and that child patients would react more favourably to women dentists.

A measure of progress.

In the 100-plus years since dental school graduated its first woman, the female presence in dentistry has increased and then decreased. It's on the rise again, causing several organizations to reassess their missions.

Gender trends in dental practice patterns. A review of current U.S. literature.

This paper reviews three recent reports of national gender trends in dental practice patterns. Although the three independent cross-sectional studies were conducted at different points in time, used different sampling strategies, and used similar but independent survey instruments, findings were consistent across studies. In summary: Women dentists are less likely to be married and have fewer children. Women are more likely to assume child rearing and household responsibilities. Women are less likely to be practice owners. Women worked slightly fewer hours per week and weeks per year, and were more likely to take a leave of absence for illness or child rearing. However, women dentists demonstrate a far greater professional work commitment than was previously reported in the literature. Women earn significantly less income from the practice of dentistry, even after controlling for age, practice ownership, hours worked per week, and other personal characteristics. The most current "Gender Wage Gap" estimates range from 57.7% for specialists to 75.4% for general practitioners (8). delta.

Choosing dentistry as a career--Part I: A comparison of student motives.

The race/gender composition of first year dental students at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg has changed over the years. Classes were previously characterised by a predominance of white males, but the race/gender distribution at present reflects a predominance of black students and a significant increase in female students. This may indicate that the motives for choosing dentistry as a career have changed and this possibility was explored in two classes of first year students, those of 1985 and 1990. The black/white and male/female distributions were 29/71 and 85/15 per cent in 1985 and 52.5/47.5 and 57/43 per cent respectively, for the class of 1990. Despite race and gender differences, motives for choosing dentistry appeared to relate to an image of the profession that is perceived as a vehicle for the achievement of personal goals.

Planning for the children of your current pediatric dental patients.

Projections by the Bureau of the Census indicate that there will be an additional 8.1 million youngsters less than 15 years of age living in this country by the year 2020. Estimates are developed for each state and region of the needed numbers of pediatric dentists to maintain current practitioner levels. The availability of needed practitioners is considered in terms of the number of graduates from pediatric dentistry training programs.

A força do trabalho feminino na odontologia, em Araçatuba - SP / The women workforce in dentistry in Araçatuba - SP

Nos últimos anos tem havido um processo de feminilização nas profissões, principalmente na área da saúde. Nesse trabalho, o objetivo foi analisar o exercício da odontologia por profissionais do sexo feminino, quanto à renda mensal obtida com a profissão, ao grau de satisfação e problemas enfrentados, dentre outros aspectos. Foram entrevistadas 100 cirurgiãs-dentistas, da cidade de Araçatuba, SP, utilizando-se um formulário com 30 perguntas. Os resultados mostraram que 87 por cento disseram não ser a principal fonte de renda de sua família, 38 por cento possuem renda mensal inferior à R$1.500,00; 44 por cento afirmaram que a renda obtida com o exercício profissional não é suficiente. Do total, 78 por cento consideram-se satisfeitas com a profissão, porém 58,2 por cento não incentivariam seus filhos a cursarem odontologia. As principais queixas apontadas são: a baixa remuneração que a profissão lhes proporciona e a saturação do mercado de trabalho. Quanto à saúde, 50,5 por cento possuem algum problema relacionado à atuação profissional, principalmente dores na coluna e varizes. Conclui-se que embora a maioria das entrevistadas afirmou estar satisfeita com a profissão, os problemas financeiros, de saúde, as queixas e a não recomendação da profissão para o filho, traduzem a insatisfação, às vezes inconsciente, das mulheres no exercício da odontologia.