The role of nursing education in the perpetuation of inequality

A growing body of literature now strongly supports the view that undergraduate nursing students commence their education program with firm views about the most desirable and undesirable areas of practice. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of undergraduate nursing students’ career preferences in which attitudes on commencement are compared to attitudes immediately prior to the completion of the course. Differences in preferences were found between student choices at the beginning and end of the course, however the tendency for students to prefer areas of high technology and working with children and babies remains high despite some changes within these groupings. Similarly the unpopularity of psychiatric nursing, aged care, and community health remains an issue of concern despite some significant changes within these areas. The results are interpreted through a discussion of the role of nursing education in perpetuating the prejudices of students through portraying some areas of practice as inherently more desirable than others.