Paws for thought? Analysing how prevailing masculinities constrain career progression for UK women veterinary surgeons

Abstract

The structure of veterinary medicine is changing rapidly from that of traditional small privately owned practices to one of corporate franchises, often positioned within retail outlets. Accompanying this trend has been the increasing presence of women, such that they now dominate clinical practice. To what extent are these two issues, increasing feminisation and corporatisation, linked? Since the mid-1990s, corporate providers have largely displaced the traditional self-employed practice ownership/partnership model. This has informed a blame discourse whereby feminisation is associated with industry restructuring given women’s alleged preferences for predictable, flexible corporate employment, plus a lack of entrepreneurial ambition towards practice ownership. Drawing upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with women veterinary surgeons and key industry stakeholders, we critically analyse such arguments. We illustrate that diverse notions of corporate masculinity, operating in parallel with the entrepreneurial masculinity of traditional practice, generate this blame discourse and underpin women’s limited progression into self-employed practice ownership. This has implications for the future structure of the profession and the careers of forthcoming generations of veterinary surgeons.

Rationalizing the postfeminist paradox: The case of UK women veterinary professionals

“…There has been an overt association between the changing profile of the profession and increasing feminization; the decline of private practice has been associated with a feminized reluctance to assume the risks related to self‐employment and a preference for flexible working incompatible with senior private practice/ownership roles (Myers & Gates, 2013; Treanor, 2016). Thus, whilst feminization is deemed at the root of structural shifts (Treanor & Marlow, 2019), new opportunities are emerging in the corporate sector with possibilities for advancement to senior management or clinical directorships. Indeed, the context of larger organizations with formal equality policies should be advantageous for women's progression.…”

“…To contribute to this debate, we focus upon UK women veterinary professionals. We use the veterinary sector as our case example as, although dominated by highly qualified female clinical practitioners since the late 1980s, it exhibits persistent occupational segregation to the detriment of women (Clarke & Knights, 2018; Treanor & Marlow, 2019). There is a well‐rehearsed debate exploring gendered bias within professional occupations (Baker & Kelan, 2019; Merluzzi & Dobrev, 2015).…”

“…The postfeminist focus on individualism does not acknowledge context; yet, permitted postfeminist entrepreneurial subjectivities must be enacted within work contexts characterized by patriarchal and oppressive constructions of women (Sullivan & Delaney, 2017) maintained by traditional and entrepreneurial masculinities (Treanor & Marlow, 2019). Against such a backdrop, the requirement for constant monitoring and self‐regulation and for women to change their subjectivity has raised the issue of how postfeminism is understood, experienced, negotiated, and lived on a subjective level (Gill, 2017; Gill et al, 2017; Lewis, 2018).…”

“…Within the UK veterinary profession there already exists a wider blame discourse holding women responsible for the corporatization of the sector (Treanor & Marlow, 2019). It has been established that women attaining vertical progression blame unsuccessful women for their lack of progression (Baker & Kelan, 2019).…”

Veterinary Diagnostic Practice and the Use of Rapid Tests in Antimicrobial Stewardship on UK Livestock Farms

“…The former is becoming increasingly datarich, through food chain monitoring, "smart" technologies and assurance processes leading to improved surveillance of animal health. The latter, meanwhile, with innovations in diagnostic and treatment technologies, is nevertheless adapting to different roles and structures as corporate veterinary practices become ever more present across the UK veterinary landscape (8)(9)(10) and as the responsibility of the farm animal veterinarian expands from the traditional role of animal "doctor" to include broader terrains of environmental and health planning as well as management within an increasingly vertically integrated agro-food sector (11)(12)(13). It is against this background that the role, the practice and the technologies of veterinary diagnosis are increasingly being discussed and debated both within the veterinary profession and beyond.…”