Nursing Students: Stereotypically Feminine

In a validation of the Bem Sex-role Inventory (Bem, 1974) Gaudreau (1975) chose housewives as stereotypically feminine females and found an average femininiry score of 5.4 and masculinity score of 4.4. At the university it might be hypothesized that nursing students are stereotypically feminine and thus can be compared to the housewives. In February 1977 the inventory was administered to 135 sophomore, junior and senior nursing school students at the University of North Dakota. Freshmen were not included since they had completed the inventory during registration the previous fall. The sample included 13 males. The average femininity score was 5.1 and masculinity score was 4.7.