The Other Gender Gap

I learned about wildlife rehabilitation from my biology advisor about two years ago. I didn’t know much about the field, but I want to be a veterinarian one day, working with wildlife. This externship seemed like it would be a great match, and I would get a chance to gain some animal experience. What I didn’t know was that this field was female-dominated.

I’m not a gender studies minor, but I do attend an all women’s college. From the moment I was accepted to Sweet Briar, I had been told that I would not be adequately prepared to deal with the “real world” since I would be spending the next four years in a giant slumber party. Sure, sometimes it felt like that, but that’s pretty far from the truth. I wasn’t some little girl that could be pushed down easily, and I laughed back at them. I worked hard to prove them wrong.

I was thrilled when my advisor told me about the externship at the Wildlife Center. What a great opportunity to work with wildlife! Throughout the school year, I obtained grants from my college to attend two wildlife rehabilitation conferences: The Call of the Wild conference and the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association conference in New Jersey. I wanted to learn more about this field. However, the first thing I noticed was the gender gap.

I felt like I was back in Sweet Briar classrooms, rather than a large conference. The first feeling I had was a sense of empowerment. Look at all these women trying to make a difference in the world of wildlife was awe-inspiring. They were all working together to care for wild animals. Trading techniques and methods between one another, they would share their favorite memories and how many hours, days, or weeks it took to raise a single animal to release date. Some of these women were experts on their favorite species. I had the chance to meet and hear the founder of a wildlife center in Pennsylvania; I heard how she struggled in the beginning, working from her garage with a supportive husband behind her. The sacrifices they made to help wildlife and educate the public are noteworthy.

This is what interested me the most because I never knew a field in the sciences could be so female-dominated. Granted, this was before further research into how animal sciences careers and jobs are mostly taken by women. But still! The blood, sweat, and tears that go into wildlife rehabilitation are unlike anything I’ve ever done previously. I have hauled 20-30 lbs of chopped rats and mice as well as many bottles of fawn formula uphill, sometimes twice-a-day. I have mucked deer runs and bear pens in hot weather and even the pouring rain. This is not a job for the faint-hearted. It takes a lot of serious dedication and a strong stomach to do this kind of work. One look at me and you wouldn’t think I could lift 40 pounds over my head, but I’ve done it … multiple times a day even. And it’s not just me – all of the externs work alongside each other covered in sweat and who-knows-what-else from the animals, and we are still laughing and smiling as the hours tick by.

The title, “The Other Gender Gap,” is an odd name since there is no sort of gender inequality in the wildlife rehabilitation field, but I view it as a funny way to see how different this field is from the other sciences. This is a STEM field -- a science where the numbers between men and women are not male-dominated like computer science or mathematics. This is a STEM field where females are dominating, and are not princesses, but warriors of nature. Yes, the animals are cute and sometimes you just want to talk to them like they are little human babies, but we don’t! These are animals that we are trying to care for as best and as quickly as we can so they can return back to the wild. This is not delicate or domestic work; this is hard, grueling work that involves attention to detail and teamwork. I am ecstatic that I have found a field where I won’t be judged for being a woman. I am an educated woman that won’t sit down to let someone else help improve the world. I will stand alongside my team, work ‘til I can’t feel my feet, and the last baby bird has had its mealworms for the night; and I will enjoy every minute of it. To all of those who believed I wouldn’t find my place in the world because I decided to attend a “girly” school -- guess what, I found my place and I am not turning away. Thank you Wildlife Center of Virginia for providing a great sense of purpose within me, and I’ll see you after my next great big adventure.

--Brigette
WCV Class of 2015

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