Opportunities in Dentistry - Page 1

20 Opportunities in Dentistry

for Women and Minorities

Doors are open for women

Minorities in dentistry

DOORS ARE OPEN FOR WOMEN

In many respects the United States is clearly a world leader; yet the number of women

in professional life in this country is disproportionate to the population as a whole. Less

than 10% of dentists here are women. This figure stands in marked contrast to that of

Russia or Finland, where about 80% of the dentists are women. It is also very different

from other nations, such as Greece, France, Sweden, and Holland, where 25% to 50% of

the dentists are women.

While the reasons for the sparsity of women dentists in this country are not posi-

tively known, one of the significant factors probably has been the belief that the profes-

sion is too physically demanding for women. While this widely held assumption is

questionable to begin with, it has lost any possible validity in light of the drastic change

in dentistry from a two-hand, stand-up profession to a four-hand, sit-down one.

Over the past decade, whatever barriers may have existed to prevent women from

entering the field of dentistry have certainly fallen. This is evident from the dental

school enrollment figures for women, which show a 400% increase since 1970. Women

have responded to favorable opportunities in dentistry. Thus, even though the pool of

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