Women in Veterinary: their roles, problems and future

Veterinary profession has transformed and witnessed a considerable increase in the number of female veterinarians during the recent decades. This transformation can be attributed to the increase in the number of student places at graduate level and the general trend for young girls to outperform their male counterparts in academic grade achievement. Women veterinarians are rapidly approaching that pattern of equal, full-time professional work and have entered all specialties. However, the potential of female veterinarians is typically not fully exploited. Professional accreditation is inadequate to challenge the gender-based discrimination in terms of opportunities, pay and benefit packages. However, in future the unwarranted fears about the feminization of the profession and its presumed deleterious effects will fade into obscurity, along with the previous myths about women’s unsuitability and the veterinary profession will find ways to ensure that all its graduates, regardless of gender, will achieve the rewards they deserve