Attitudes of novice physiotherapists to their professional role: A gender perspective

Abstract

Most Swedish physiotherapists are women, but an increasing number of men are entering the profession. The aim of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of eight novice physiotherapists. In-depth interviews with four female and four male novice physiotherapists were conducted. The analyses used Grounded Theory and ideal model. Gender, context and time were identified as important analytical categories. Four ideal types, which reflect the attitudes of the novices to the profession, were constructed. The attitudes of the female physiotherapists were used to construct the ideal types called the 'Supervisor' and the 'Treater'. They were patient-oriented and experienced great job satisfaction in their close relationship with patients. They had an open mind as to their future professional activities. The attitudes of the male physiotherapists were used to construct the ideal types called the 'Coach' and the 'Entrepreneur'. They were team-oriented and unsatisfied with team leaders, salaries and organisation. They were choice-decided as to their future professional activities. In the primary health care setting, the physiotherapists wished to cooperate upwards with others in the organisational hierarchy as well as outside the health care organisation. In hospitals, the physiotherapists wished to cooperate horizontally or downwards with others in the hierarchy.