Unequal Educational Opportunities Due to Gender Issues among Nursing Students

Dear Editor While training in the school of nursing, students are faced with unequal educational situations in terms of gender. To clarify the issue, some of the experiences of nursing students and instructors have been discussed in this letter. In this regard, one of the male students remarked: “We are not allowed to go to the maternity unit for practice. If someday I have to be in an emergency situation that requires care for a pregnant woman, I do not have the competency or adequate skills. Male medical students have practical training in maternity units, but we do not!” In addition, a clinical instructor stated: “Most of our clients in the community health nursing centers are women or young children with their mothers. I have sincerely tried to make paired groups of male and female nursing students, so that male students could participate in the care provision for mothers. We always obtain their permission before performing any procedures on female clients, asking them whether or not they would like a male student to be their nurse and carry out processes such as measuring their blood pressure and weight or offering them education on prenatal care.” However, neither female clients nor the healthcare providers and male students are interested in engaging in such situations. In general, male students believe that they are not able to work with mothers due to gender