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Seekers, Finders, Settlers, and Stumblers: Identifying the Career Paths of Males in the Genetic Counseling Profession

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Genetic Counseling

Abstract

Genetic counseling is a female-dominated profession, with 96% of counselors self-identifying as female. Research suggests gender diversification benefits healthcare professionals and the populations they serve. Therefore, this study explored how men choose a genetic counseling career, associations between career satisfaction and their career entry dynamics and experience levels, and differences due to experience level in how they decide on this profession. Twenty-five novice, experienced, or seasoned male counselors and 8 male genetic counseling students participated in semi-structured phone interviews. Interpretive content and cross-case analyses of interview data were informed by Simpson’s “Seekers, Finders, and Settlers” theory describing career entry dynamics of men in non-traditional (i.e., female-dominated) fields. Results revealed 13 interviewees were Seekers, who initially knew they wanted a career in genetic counseling, actively chose the profession, and were satisfied with their decision. Eleven were Settlers, who had tried different, traditional jobs, with limited satisfaction before actively finding and choosing genetic counseling. Two were Finders, who discovered genetic counseling while in the career decision making process and made a passive choice to pursue it as they had no feasible, satisfactory alternative. Seven men fit a new category, we termed “Stumblers,” who were in another career and satisfied, but changed to genetic counseling after happening to hear about it. Prevalent themes pertaining to participants’ experiences in the career include desire for a multidisciplinary career; lack of a priori knowledge of genetic counselor roles; late exposure to the profession; and varied perceptions of being in a non-traditional career. There were few differences due to experience level and career satisfaction was high across the sample. Results suggest earlier exposure to the career and availability of detailed descriptions of its multidisciplinary nature may increase the number of males in the profession.

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Notes

  1. Of note, in genetic counseling the term “non-traditional” is often used to describe emerging practice areas and settings (cf. Warren et al. 2005). In the present study, the term non-traditional is being used in accordance with the U.S. Census Bureau definition.

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Acknowledgements

This study was completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the first author’s Masters of Science degree from the University of Minnesota. We would like to thank the participants for their time and valuable input.

Dr. Christina Palmer served as Action Editor on the manuscript review process and publication decision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Anthony Chen, Pat McCarthy Veach & Heather Zierhut

  2. Department of Genetic Counseling, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    Cheri Schoonveld

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  1. Anthony Chen
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  2. Pat McCarthy Veach
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  3. Cheri Schoonveld
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  4. Heather Zierhut
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather Zierhut.

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Conflict of Interest

Anthony Chen, Patricia McCarthy Veach, Cheri Schoonveld, and Heather Zierhut declare they have no conflict of interest.

Human Studies and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. This study was approved by the University of Minnesota IRB. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Animal Studies

No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

Appendix

Appendix

Interview Guide

I’m going to ask you a few interview questions concerning your decision to choose genetic counseling as a career. I am defining career as “genetic counseling as a whole,” compared to a “job” which may be one of many facets or activities relating to your work.

  1. 1.)

    When did you first learn about Genetic Counseling? How did you learn about it? [Prompt: at what time in your life?]

    1. a.

      How did the timing or manner [Prompt: online, in class, personal experience, etc.] in which you heard about it affect your decision to become a genetic counselor if at all?

  2. 2.)

    Can you tell me for what reason(s) you decided to choose genetic counseling as a career?

    1. a.

      How did you go about making the decision to become a genetic counselor?

    2. b.

      How do your current reasons for being in this career differ, if at all, from your initial reasons for choosing the career? [Prompt: what sort of things do you look for in a career, or what are your aspirations for a career?]

    3. c.

      Was genetic counseling in the group of careers that you initially considered? [Prompt: If no, how did you come to consider it? Did you stumble upon it? Choose it by default?]

  3. 3.)

    Had you considered a different career path, or pursued other careers prior to entering genetic counseling? [Prompt: what career(s) were you considering?]

    1. a.

      If so, what made you change/decide on genetic counseling?

  4. 4.)

    Have you considered a different career at some point since starting your career path in genetic counseling?

    1. a.

      If so, what career(s) and why did you not pursue this career/these careers?

  5. 5.)

    When did you first realize that genetic counseling was a non-traditional career, meaning that a large majority of genetic counselors are female?

    1. a.

      How did you feel about that then?

    2. b.

      How do you feel about that now?

  6. 6.)

    What supports, if any, did you encounter in your decision making about genetic counseling as a career? These include things like friends, family, personal beliefs/values, prestige, salary, difficulty getting into a program, etc. [Prompt: In what way were these supports for you?]

  7. 7.)

    What barriers, if any, did you encounter in your decision making about genetic counseling as a career? [Prompt: In what way were these barriers for you?]

  8. 8.)

    (for practicing genetic counselors) Are there any beliefs you had about being in a non-traditional career as a student that you found to be untrue once you became a practicing genetic counselor?

  9. 9.)

    How satisfied are you with your career thus far, and what sort of issues affect satisfaction level? (Students: How satisfied are you thus far with the field of genetic counseling? Focus should be on career, not the program, if applicable)

  10. 10.)

    Why did you decide to participate in this interview?

  11. 11.)

    Anything else you’d like to tell me?

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Chen, A., Veach, P.M., Schoonveld, C. et al. Seekers, Finders, Settlers, and Stumblers: Identifying the Career Paths of Males in the Genetic Counseling Profession. J Genet Counsel 26, 948–962 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-017-0071-1

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