Perceived sources and types of social support and academic success among male nursing, social work, and occupational therapy students

<p>Incorporating gender diversity into a collaborative practice environment among healthcare professionals and patients is necessary to provide quality care for the complex healthcare population that we serve. Nursing, social work, and occupational therapy have been known to be predominantly female occupations. There are many benefits of including males in these occupations to produce a more diverse workforce supporting positive patient care outcomes and delivery services. There are, however, education, and social barriers to male students within these health science programs. Evidence has shown that social support is an effective mechanism for managing the effects of stress, promoting positive self-esteem, and enhancing psychological stability and academic success. What is not clear from the current literature is how perceptions of social support are related to academic success among male students in female-dominated healthcare professions. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of perceived social support of family, peers, faculty, and role model/mentors, and academic success among male nursing, social work, and occupational therapy students. The results found that there was a significant positive correlation between family support and GPA among the three academic programs. Correlations between peer, faculty, and role model/mentor support were not significant. The importance of family, peer, faculty, and role model/mentor social support were also examined between groups. Differences were noted between the academic programs and importance of family support. In addition, although not statistically significant, the males in all three academic programs identified faculty support as very important. The importance of peer, overall role model/mentor, and same</p> <p>gender role model/mentor support were not statistically significant. Among demographic differences, non-married male students found peer support as a significant source of support, non-first-generation students identified family as a source of support, and White students identified the importance of peer support. These results indicate that perceived social support can have positive outcomes for male students within these female dominated healthcare professions.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teacher Education

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Thornton, Tina

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tsu-Yin Wu, PhD, RN, FAAN
• Michael Williams, PhD, RN, CCRN, CNEO
• Jennifer Kellman-Fritz, PhD

• Academic Success
• Interprofessional Education
• Male Students
• Perceived Social Support
• Social Support
• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2321