Male SLPs

[Papaya91]

I'm a guy as well. I was one of 4 in my undergrad, of a graduating class of about 25. We had started with one more, but he was a postpac so he was gone the next year. One of the other guys decided not to pursue his masters, one went into another similar field, and one went straight on to his masters. I took some time off for fun in the sun and to relax before starting the rest of my life, lol.

Anyway, I'm also hoping to work in a medical setting (hospital or rehab center, ideally) after graduation. I think you're all right about the perception of speech therapy being all about schools, though. Up until my first class in CSD that I took just for fun, I thought that speech therapy was mostly about articulation for kids ("winoceweses have howns" lol). Then I realized there was so much more you could do. As someone who doesn't like kids that much (read: at all), I was happy to discover that it's a much broader field.

[autismadvocate]

I am a girl, but was thinking about something and wanted to get you guys' thoughts. It's weird how different fields have different gender makeups. I was an economics major and it was incredibly uncomfortable, because even in my biggest classes I was one of only a few women in the class and in another I was the only one. I felt like I was being judged all the time, like if I messed up (which I did plenty, economics is HARD!) it would be taken as a reflection on women. (Because, you know, that whole idea that women can't do math.) My professors treated me differently, too. There was probably some cultural influences there, because they were from different countries, but it was still really weird. And my male classmates were well aware I was the only female classmate, so all of a sudden I was drowning in 'study buddies' (who, thankfully, did help me study, but still, it was a weird dynamic).

 

And now I come into this field and it's almost completely women. While it is a relief not to be the only girl anymore, having been on the other side I can relate to what it's like to be in the minority and I was wondering, guys, do you feel the same discomfort I did? And if so, how would you propose that your classmates help ease it?

Edited March 23, 2014 by autismadvocate

[sayjo]

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.

 

While this is true, I think the problem is that there just aren't as many jobs on the medical side of things.  My husband is GREAT in medical and rehab settings but pretty much doesn't want anything to do with kids.  He came into a lot of problems on his job search where staffing companies tried to put him in schools even though he specifically said he did NOT want to be in a school.  If you contrast this with a field like PT (for example), I feel like the majority of therapy settings are medical, which likely draws more men.

 

I'm going to be completely judgmental and sexist here, but if you figure probably most guys don't want to be in schools/work with kids, it would be a problem if the field went to a 50-50 male-female ratio, because I feel like there would be an over-saturation of SLPs wanting to be in the medical setting.  It's hard enough getting a job on the medical side of things now!!  Maybe if the societal norm changed so that men felt more comfortable working in elementary schools, that would be different (but that's a subject for another day)...

[caterpillar]

 Maybe if the societal norm changed so that men felt more comfortable working in elementary schools, that would be different (but that's a subject for another day)...

 

I'll throw out there that many men do feel comfortable working in school settings - not just in SLP, but in general. For example, my husband has only worked in the schools (preschool through high school level) since he graduated in 2007. One of his LOR writers was a male SPED teacher he worked under. Both the other SPED aides he works with currently are male, and several of his professional references are men. While education is a female dominated field as well, I do think it's a bit much to assume that if more men were involved in SLP, there wouldn't be jobs for female SLPs in medical settings or that the men would flock solely to medical settings.

[sayjo]

I'll throw out there that many men do feel comfortable working in school settings - not just in SLP, but in general. For example, my husband has only worked in the schools (preschool through high school level) since he graduated in 2007. One of his LOR writers was a male SPED teacher he worked under. Both the other SPED aides he works with currently are male, and several of his professional references are men. While education is a female dominated field as well, I do think it's a bit much to assume that if more men were involved in SLP, there wouldn't be jobs for female SLPs in medical settings or that the men would flock solely to medical settings.

 

I agree that there are some men that work in elementary schools - I've been a teacher for five years and we usually have 1-2 teachers at our school who are men.  HOWEVER, I do somewhat feel that the men that work in elementary schools tend to be a "special breed" of man lol.  I also feel like the men in elementary schools (that I've encountered) are in special fields such as SPED or gym/computers etc.  There as not as many male general education classroom teachers.  In general, it seems to be difficult to get a 50-50 balance of men and women in elementary schools.  Thus, you end up with teaching and SLP programs at the university level that are much more female dominated.  

 

I do think it's sad that medical setting positions aren't more readily available because I think it would diversity the type of students (both male and female) that are interested in the field.  Medical settings are out there, but are harder to obtain.  Hopefully someday more medical positions will be available!

[Papaya91]

I am a girl, but was thinking about something and wanted to get you guys' thoughts. It's weird how different fields have different gender makeups. I was an economics major and it was incredibly uncomfortable, because even in my biggest classes I was one of only a few women in the class and in another I was the only one. I felt like I was being judged all the time, like if I messed up (which I did plenty, economics is HARD!) it would be taken as a reflection on women. (Because, you know, that whole idea that women can't do math.) My professors treated me differently, too. There was probably some cultural influences there, because they were from different countries, but it was still really weird. And my male classmates were well aware I was the only female classmate, so all of a sudden I was drowning in 'study buddies' (who, thankfully, did help me study, but still, it was a weird dynamic).

 

And now I come into this field and it's almost completely women. While it is a relief not to be the only girl anymore, having been on the other side I can relate to what it's like to be in the minority and I was wondering, guys, do you feel the same discomfort I did? And if so, how would you propose that your classmates help ease it?

 

I never really felt singled out or uncomfortable. I don't know if this is TMI, but most of my friends are girls and gay guys (I'm gay myself), so I didn't mind being in a major with mostly women. I know the other guys in my program tended to stick together, though. My teachers never treated me differently either. Not for being a guy, at least. If anything, I was one of the brighter people in my class, so that may have gotten my teachers' attention, but I think they did a good job of spreading the attention around.

Socializing outside of class, however, was a little weird sometimes. The girls would occasionally have "girl's nights" where I was either forgotten or not invited, since I'm not a girl, lol. And if I was invited to go out with them, I was sometimes the only one stuck paying cover while they all got in free. I ended up hanging out with them either individually, or in small groups, for the most part.

The only advice I could really give is to not exclude the guys when you're hanging out outside of school. It might make them feel left out, lol.

[lexical_gap]

I agree about not excluding the guys. Or at the very least, plan plenty of outings to which everyone (including significant others) are invited. I'm the only guy in my class and I've gone out with my cohort a few times. It's fine if we're all going out (and they bring significant others). However I've also been left out of a lot of things because I'm a guy. Most of my cohort was invited to a bachelorette party for a classmate. A makeup-beauty product demo / sale night was planned. Obviously, I was not invited to those events. I understand and I get it.

On one of our outings, one of the girls invited her husband to join us after work. After he arrived, I must've looked like a creeper as I chatted with him the remainder of the evening.

[selbstverteidigung]

Are there any men out there though who haven't been admitted and are on their 2nd or 3rd season of applications?