Assessing the Correlation Between Perception of Gender Equality in Grey’s Anatomy and Motivations for Viewers Identifying as Women to Enter Healthcare-Related Fields
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v11i4.3257Keywords:
gender equality, Social Role Theory, Grey's Anatomy, perception, motivation, healthcare, STEM, gender inequality, television, correlationAbstract
Although gender inequality within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is diminishing, this advancement is skewed within differing fields; women dominate the healthcare spectrum, whereas men dominate in fields such as computer science and engineering. The vast dispersal of women within STEM creates a query as to what may be creating this gender gap. This research paper seeks to identify the involvement of popular television within this development, specifically by analyzing Grey’s Anatomy and the correlation between its viewers’ perception of gender equality within the show and their motivations to enter healthcare. By doing so, this paper addresses whether the Social Role Theory applies to television and if women choose their careers based off what they view on television. By sending out a survey to measure participants’ perceived level of gender equality within Grey’s Anatomy and their motivations to enter healthcare, this study can draw a correlation between the two and form an implication from the results. According to the collected data, there is a moderate, positive, correlation between the perception of gender equality in Grey’s Anatomy and motivations for participants to enter healthcare, making this study successful in forming initial conclusions that television correlates to a women’s career choice.
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