Administrative level | Recommendation | Time frame | Impact | Cost/budget | Description |
Faculty | Group male students (and male practitioners) together and encourage male students to participate in peer mentoring programmes and act as role models for others | Medium-term (1-2 years) | Makes male students feel that they belong to a group and builds supportive ties within the educational institution and beyond | Low (coordination, promotion) | It is recommended that men be grouped together in classes, provided with peer support and given access to mentoring systems (including female mentors). Through communicating with their role models, they are given the necessary support to experience feelings of belonging in the educational institution and profession or nursing in general |
Faculty | Revise recruitment materials and language used to ensure gender-neutral and inclusive language, removing stereotypical images and texts | Short-term (6-12 months) | Changes perception of nursing, making it more appealing to men and underrepresented groups | Low (changes in marketing materials) | Update department-level recruitment materials to reflect a more inclusive view of nursing, ensuring men are not excluded by traditional stereotypes. Include visuals and language that represent the diversity of the profession. Update the institution’s websites and check that there are no images that reinforce stereotypes in the venues used by the faculty |
Faculty | Incorporate diversity, inclusion and gender equality training into the nursing curriculum for all students | Long-term (2-4 years) | Ensures all nursing students are equipped to address diversity issues in healthcare settings | Moderate (curriculum updates, working hours of the relevant teaching staff) | Introduce mandatory coursework that covers gender equality, inclusion and the benefits of diversity in healthcare. This can help students of all genders to understand their role in providing inclusive care while also reflecting on their own position in the healthcare landscape. It is important that female students undertake the same exercise, thus, strengthening overall awareness of diversity |
Faculty | Build a support system for field work placements, ensuring the work environment is welcoming for male students | Medium-term (2 years) | Improves retention of male students and enhances their learning experience during clinical practice (field work) | Low to moderate (costs of collaboration and coordination with placement sites) | Work with clinical placement partners to ensure a supportive and inclusive environment for male students during their fieldwork – clinical practice, which is critical since 50% of their education occurs in real-world settings. Besides targeting male nurses as cooperation partners in this clinical practice, this might also include educating clinical staff in general on gender diversity and inclusion |
University | Appoint a gender diversity officer or committee to oversee diversity initiatives targeted at diversity among students | Long-term (constant) | Increases institutional accountability for gender diversity in nursing and healthcare professions | Moderate (salary or committee costs) | Establish a dedicated role or committee within the university to focus on gender diversity among students. This role would ensure sustained attention is paid to the issue and help coordinate efforts across various departments and faculties. In addition, this could lead to better collaboration with industry partners, which could be instrumental in helping to reach the diversity goals at the university |
University | Develop and implement a university-wide action plan on diversity and gender equality in health education and care programmes | Medium-term | High impact on increasing diversity and gender balance in line with national goals | Moderate (depending on the scale) | The plan should address gender imbalance among students, referring to the existing national/official reports on men and gender equality. It should link with national diversity and gender equality goals. Central management involvement and ownership is essential |
Ministry of Education/National Level | Push for funding in nursing education similar to that provided for STEM programmes to support gender diversity initiatives | Long-term (3+ years) | Increases funding for initiatives aimed at improving male participation in nursing, making long-term projects more viable through co-financing or support platforms involving industry partners | High (government funding allocation) | Advocate for national-level funding for gender diversity in nursing education. This would provide the financial backing for long-term initiatives and help universities and colleges develop sustainable programmes, as is the case in STEM fields |
Ministry of Education/National Level | Quotas for the underrepresented genders in nursing and other unbalanced fields of studies | Long-term (3+ years) | Provides an advantage to underrepresented genders in admissions | Moderate (depending on resistance) | While this measure was not implemented in this project, research shows that gender quotas of around 20% for the underrepresented genders can help improve gender balance. This approach is set to be implemented at institutions in Norway in the future. We recommend adopting the same measure across the rest of the Nordic countries. |
International (Nordic Collaboration) | Continue international collaboration across Nordic countries to gather data, analyse trends and promote gender diversity | Long-term (5+ years) | Provides valuable insights into how gender diversity can be improved across multiple healthcare systems, leading to more effective strategies | High (international research projects, data collection, analysis) | Build on existing Nordic collaboration projects to conduct in-depth research into gender diversity in nursing and healthcare. Pool resources and data to understand the barriers to male participation better and develop actionable insights that can inform national policies and international best practices. Collaboration could include joint research projects, conferences and shared funding proposals |