Male SLPs

[lexical_gap]

Yes, we do exist!  From personal experience, I often find myself as the only one in a class of 30-40 students in my department.

 

I thought this would be a good place to connect with other men in the profession to not feel as isolated or like the "token boy".  For the ladies, we can help offer a male prospective on the profession, especially since so many young clients receiving speech therapy are boys. 

 

A funny anecdote:  Last semester, I was given an assignment to create an articulation therapy activity.  I was paired with the only other male in my class.  We created a Buzz Lightyear themed articulation therapy activity, focusing on word final /z/ in a phrase.  During our presentation, we got quite a few oohs and aahs: "Aww... Buzz Lightyear!  That's adorable!"  After our presentation, we were met with thunderous applause and audible cheers from a couple of my female classmates, "Hooray, boys!  Yay!  That was so much fun!"  While it was flattering, I sometimes wonder if we weren't expected to be as creative or playful in the activity we designed because we're both men.

 

I'm curious to know about others' experiences in the profession.

[SLPzs91]

I know I'm the only guy in my entire undergrad program. Admittedly in the beginning I felt a little isolated in that a lot of the girls didn't really think I was in the right classroom haha.

But I think that the professors hold us to the same degree as female SLP students, they just call on us more. In a sea of 20+ girls and 1 guy, the professors seem to go with what's easiest. That's just my experience.

But I feel that more guys would actually really enjoy the field, if they knew more about it. Most of what's publicized about SLP before the college level is working with children. Most guys I know aren't jumping at the bit to work with children (admittedly I'm included in that...adult neurogenic disorders interest me a lot more) but they don't know there's so much more to being an SLP.

This is all from my personal experience, and I don't mean to speak for all guys. Just ones I know haha.

[clydeyo12]

I am one of two guys in my school's post-bacc program. In my classes I am usually either the only guy or one of two or three in classes of about 25. As a single guy, you won't get any complaints out of me! I still haven't figured out though why the ratio is so heavily skewed. I totally understand it's a "helping profession" or whatever that tends to attract more women, but it seems there are almost no men in the field at all. Anyone figure this out yet? I think it's a huge (although not necessarily well-earned) advantage for us, both in terms of getting into grad schools and getting jobs sometime down the road. Any thoughts?

[midnight]

I know I'm the only guy in my entire undergrad program. Admittedly in the beginning I felt a little isolated in that a lot of the girls didn't really think I was in the right classroom haha.

But I think that the professors hold us to the same degree as female SLP students, they just call on us more. In a sea of 20+ girls and 1 guy, the professors seem to go with what's easiest. That's just my experience.

But I feel that more guys would actually really enjoy the field, if they knew more about it. Most of what's publicized about SLP before the college level is working with children. Most guys I know aren't jumping at the bit to work with children (admittedly I'm included in that...adult neurogenic disorders interest me a lot more) but they don't know there's so much more to being an SLP.

 

 

Yeah, I think if the SLP profession, especially the medical aspect and the job placement numbers, were "marketed" differently, more men would probably consider it. I assume that there have been significant increases in the number of men who go into nursing, PT, OT, and similar professions over the past decade or so; perhaps that will happen with SLP as well (though it's already so competitive that I can't even begin to imagine what will happen if hundreds of men suddenly decide to apply to SLP programs! ).

[clydeyo12]

 (though it's already so competitive that I can't even begin to imagine what will happen if hundreds of men suddenly decide to apply to SLP programs! ).

 

More schools will start programs maybe! 

[midnight]

More schools will start programs maybe! 

 

I think that at least for a few years SLP programs would become uber-hyper-selective. (Apparently there's an impending professor shortage, and the clinics are very expensive to run.) But it could lead to growth in the long run!

[CO (soon to be) SLP]

Hi,

 

I can't really say too much about the profession as a whole, as I'm just applying. Coming from a social work track to an SLP track I've noticed a large gender gap in the classes I've had, though I think it's a little lower at the undergrad level in speech science as I see more guys moving toward audiology. Interestingly, I have seen a pretty fair balance in gender amongst my professors? In my chem classes, many years ago, there was a significant (but not as extreme) gap in the other direction. 

 

 

We could probably get into a long discussion on social etiology, but suffice to say I agree that there are a lot of populations that do identify better with a same-gender therapist, and a few more guys in the field could not hurt. If you look at autism stats... this gets even more interesting! That being said, I don't think it would get hyper competitive; change happens slowly and I still think that a lot of what we see now is a function of the economy and in time things will settle down. 

[Dibbels81]

I am one of two guys in my school's post-bacc program. In my classes I am usually either the only guy or one of two or three in classes of about 25. As a single guy, you won't get any complaints out of me! I still haven't figured out though why the ratio is so heavily skewed. I totally understand it's a "helping profession" or whatever that tends to attract more women, but it seems there are almost no men in the field at all. Anyone figure this out yet? I think it's a huge (although not necessarily well-earned) advantage for us, both in terms of getting into grad schools and getting jobs sometime down the road. Any thoughts?

 

From what I've experienced this application season, your sexy Y chromosome will not give you any advantage in admissions.  I'm an out of field applicant but have finished 12 post-bacc classes (3.83) and had a decent GRE (155, 153, 4.5).  I applied to six schools (3 rejections, 2 waitlists, 1 acceptance).  I'm extremely pleased to be going to grad school this Fall, so I don't consider my application season a failure.  There are simply way too many highly qualified applicants in the application process that would lead to something as silly as having a PP give an advantage.

[CO (soon to be) SLP]

From what I've experienced this application season, your sexy Y chromosome will not give you any advantage in admissions.  I'm an out of field applicant but have finished 12 post-bacc classes (3.83) and had a decent GRE (155, 153, 4.5).  I applied to six schools (3 rejections, 2 waitlists, 1 acceptance).  I'm extremely pleased to be going to grad school this Fall, so I don't consider my application season a failure.  There are simply way too many highly qualified applicants in the application process that would lead to something as silly as having a PP give an advantage.

 

Yup, I would have to agree with this. Because I did a second B.S. in Comm Disorders, I had to take Into to Comm Science and Disorders. In the text the gender gap was actually brought up and, in a moment of brave stupidity, I did take a sideways approach at asking this. The answer I got was that admissions committees have to demonstrate diversity that is representative of the application pool (those who applied). So if 250 women and 50 men apply, then about 25 women and 5 men admits would look fair. in fact, admitting a statistically significantly higher percentage of any group than is representative of the application pool is a big problem when it comes accreditation time. 

[clydeyo12]

From what I've experienced this application season, your sexy Y chromosome will not give you any advantage in admissions.  I'm an out of field applicant but have finished 12 post-bacc classes (3.83) and had a decent GRE (155, 153, 4.5).  I applied to six schools (3 rejections, 2 waitlists, 1 acceptance).  I'm extremely pleased to be going to grad school this Fall, so I don't consider my application season a failure.  There are simply way too many highly qualified applicants in the application process that would lead to something as silly as having a PP give an advantage.

 

As I mentioned, I am in a post-bacc program and in many of my classes I am the only male which, like it or not, makes me stand out. For this reason only, most of my teachers remember my name after the first day of class. For many of the girls, especially the quiet ones, the professors still don't know their names at the end of the semester. You don't think this is an advantage? I've heard that the field is about 93% women (which I don't know is true) but you're saying that if an admissions committee member reads 20 applications and only one is a male's, that committee isn't a little more likely to pay closer attention to the male's application? A lot of schools value diversity and 93% females is not very diverse. I have no idea what your application as a whole looked like but I'm not trying to say that simply being a guy will get you into every school you applied to.

[midnight]

As I mentioned, I am in a post-bacc program and in many of my classes I am the only male which, like it or not, makes me stand out. For this reason only, most of my teachers remember my name after the first day of class. For many of the girls, especially the quiet ones, the professors still don't know their names at the end of the semester. You don't think this is an advantage? I've heard that the field is about 93% women (which I don't know is true) but you're saying that if an admissions committee member reads 20 applications and only one is a male's, that committee isn't a little more likely to pay closer attention to the male's application? A lot of schools value diversity and 93% females is not very diverse. I have no idea what your application as a whole looked like but I'm not trying to say that simply being a guy will get you into every school you applied to.

 

I get what you're saying, clyde. If you're the lone guy in a class (or program!) full of women and you participate and generate good work, you're probably going to be a bit more memorable, which may be advantageous, especially for something like LORs. However, it sounds like most men who apply to SLP programs are generally up against quite a few equally qualified men plus the entire pool of women applicants, so admissions tend to stay similarly competitive whether separated out by gender or not.

[CO (soon to be) SLP]

Point of note: Being remembered is not *always* a good thing

 

I remember in my articulation disorders class (I was a live remote participant... with the mic gain turned up a little too much) my thundering incorrect response of "velar fronting" to a question ended up being the inside joke of the semester a la: "it's never lupus"

Edited March 25, 2013 by CO (soon to be) SLP

[midnight]

Point of note: Being remembered is not *always* a good thing

 

I remember in my articulation disorders class (I was a live remote participant... with the mic gain turned up a little too much) my thundering incorrect response of "velar fronting" to a question ended up being the inside joke of the semester al a: "it's never lupus"

 

Haha, yes--the knife cuts both ways!

[twinguy7]

just noticed this thread.  Are there any Male SLP's applying for fall 2014???

[sayjo]

I'm not male, but my husband is an SLP.

Edited February 8, 2014 by sayjo

[twinguy7]

sweet!  Does he work in the schools, Hospitals or Rehab centers?

[sayjo]

He works in a skilled nursing facility. 

[MaxSLP]

Yep, I am in fact a dude and also applying to SLP Masters programs.  

 

In the words of Tobias Funke:

[ehemingway]

I'm a dude-SLP. Only one in a graduating class of like, 50-60 going for speech (the others are audi).

 

lol

[twinguy7]

I did my undergrad at Cal State Northridge and we suprisingly had about 6-8 guys in the undergrad program.  I think one of my classes had 4 of us in the same class which was big! lol  OTher classes I'd be the only one or 2 in the class.

[GandalfTheGrey]

You male SLPs might appreciate this twitter feed: https://twitter.com/MaleSLP (I'm not male and don't mean to hijack the thread. I just thought it might be relevant). I certainly hope the future holds greater gender (and racial) diversity in our field.

[TheRealMSol]

just noticed this thread.  Are there any Male SLP's applying for fall 2014???

 

Hey twinguy7, I'm applying over here on the East Coast. 

 

As far as the thread goes, I haven't noticed anything in the way of it being beneficial to be a guy or not, other than theoretically having fewer applicants to compete with if schools are trying to fill a "quota." Maybe I'm just naive or optimistic, but I think it mainly comes to your academic credentials and how well you interview if you have one.

 

Anyone know why the field is so heavily female? Just one of those things, I guess? 

[sayjo]

Anyone know why the field is so heavily female? Just one of those things, I guess? 

 

I would assume because so many of the jobs are in the schools.  

[twinguy7]

I agree...  since so many of the jobs are in schools, not many males know about it.  I never had heard of an SLP until 2009 when a high school counselor of mine suggested it when we ran into each other at the grocery store(8 years after H.S.). 

[Rare_Male]

I'm also a male on the east coast. Like "Twinguy" said, not many people are aware of this profession, and that's why there may be such a small number of males. And those that are aware only think SLPs work in school settings. Many guys like to pursue more sports, business, and health related fields but are unaware of the health aspect of SLPs....I did research my senior year in high school, and realized that SLPs not only work in hospitals, rehab facilities, nursing homes, etc, but also serve an extremely valuable role in those health settings. I myself wish to work in a Rehab Facility once I earn my Master's.