Behind the Scrubs

A Nursing Magazine’s Representation of Race and Gender

Monica Velarde
Saint Mary’s College
December 09, 2008

S
 Question

S How are nurses represented in a

magazine that labels itself as a
“minority magazine?”
 Topic

S Filipino-American background

S Initial project

S Sociology and Communication

 Thesis

S The purpose of this study is to analyze

the representation of nurses in a
magazine that brands itself as a
“minority magazine” in order to assess if
such magazines include the various
minority populations in the United
States.
 Literature Review:
Nursing as a Profession

S 2004 U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services survey

S 2008 U.S. Department of Labor projection

 Literature Review:
Nursing and Media

S Muff (1982)

S Aber and Hawkins (1992)

S Norwood (2001)
 Literature Review:
Advertisements

S Goffman (1979)

S Barthel (1988)

S Knobloch-Westerwick and Coates (2008)

 Theory

S Berger and Luckmann (1966)

S The Social Construction of Reality

S Goffman (1979)
S Gender Advertisements
 Methodology:
Content Analysis

S Minority Nurse Magazine

S Sample

S “Pages”

S Strengths and Weaknesses

Methodology:
 Findings:
Pages

Picture 1

S Duplicates

S Front and Back

covers
S Organization
representations
 Findings:
Representation of Nurses

S Race: Black Nurses

S Gender: Women

S Frequency and Visibility

Nurses Identified in Sample

S
Distribution of Nurses by Racial Background

S
Picture 2

Picture 5

Picture 3

Picture 4
 Findings:
Representation of Patients

S Race: White patients

S Gender: Women

S Frequency and Visibility

Patients Identified in Sample

S
Picture 6
Picture 8

Picture 7 Picture 9
 Discussion

S Excess from United States Armed Forces

S Minority definition: gender or race?

S Under-representation of Latinos

S Over-representation of African-Americans
 Discussion

Who is “minority?”
 Questions

Thank you!