A staggering 82% of female veterinarians say they’ve experienced sexual harassment or discrimination, while 78% of veterinarians say they’ve witnessed a female veterinarian experiencing harassment or discrimination, according to a 2019 bovinevetonline.com poll.

A uterus is a liability

What I’ve always found peculiar is that I’ve had very few farmers who have questioned my abilities or skill set as a food animal practitioner. In fact, I’ve found most of them to be very supportive. Yet the majority of male food animal practitioners I’ve met display a clear bias. Many have moved beyond it, if only by necessity—that is, they need to hire somebody.

It was common for some practices to have a clear position that “they would not hire a woman.” I was even told by one student about a male practitioner who told her candidly that “a uterus was a liability.” That was back in the early 2000s, and these clear discriminatory perspectives may not be as pervasive today. But what remains is a culture within the bovine profession where many male practitioners speak and treat their female colleagues in a very condescending manner. This behavior seems to be easily written off in a “boys will be boys” kind of justification, and I think that many don’t even recognize it. This lack of awareness is reflected at a very basic level. I believe—I may be incorrect—there remains a significant pay gap between women and men in food animal practice.

To be fair, I also have to admit there is a tendency for some, me included, to chalk this up to “an old white man” problem, but that is an equally discriminatory attitude. We (including me) should be fair and recognize the many male veterinarians who have served as amazing mentors and role models to female veterinarians. I have been mentored by some of the best, and most were male … and now old … and, yes, white.

I also don’t want to make it sound that this is an issue specific food animal veterinary practice. Women in every walk of life continue to have to manage and navigate sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace. It is a global issue, not just our profession. That being said, we can start within our community to create change. I also think this conversation needs to be elevated beyond male and female.

I have always been struck by the lack of representation in the food animal profession by the LGBT community. I am aware of more than one veterinarian whose interest in food animal medicine was squelched because they did not feel they would be able to find a home in food animal practice without hiding their sexuality. These are amazing practitioners who chose another path because they had a clear appreciation for the lack of tolerance within the food animal practitioner circle and agriculture community. There are others who have stuck to the path but opt to keep their private lives very private. It is unfortunate that we have a professional or agricultural community that does not make all feel welcome.

“My biggest challenge: The attitudes of professors in vet school”

I graduated in 1972, spent four years in a beef/hog/dairy/some small animal practice and then moved to another state into a dairy and horse practice, where I worked until I retired in 2012. The doctor I worked for at the first practice was so overworked and crabby that many of the clients said they were glad I came to work for him, were happy to have me come to their farm and that Dr. X was now much easier to get along with after I came.

When I moved to the dairy practice I had a few amusing incidents, including one guy who said as we were walking into the barn, “Do you think women belong doing this kind of work? I don't. I wouldn't have one on the place.” (I had relatively long hair and wore earrings back when very few guys wore them.) As I was working to deliver a calf with both front legs back, the light must have dawned. He said, “It is pretty handy to be able to get two arms inside the cow, huh?”

The next time one of my male colleagues went to the farm the farmer said, “I never realized. You tell her she can come here whenever she wants.” Later on, as I was back there treating a cow IV, he was surprised that I did not mind getting blood on my hands.

By the grapevine I heard that it was actually more often the wives who were not sure about having me come around (I was single), but that died down after a while too. I am sure I made as many mistakes as any vet, but I never had any colleagues rub my nose in it.

As far as the clients, in spite of what they said in vet school about not ever admitting to a mistake or liability, the clients usually were accepting if I admitted I should have or could have done something differently. They did not like people trying to convince them that they were mistaken and not the doctor.

The most blatant discrimination I encountered was in vet school from a few instructors and professors who felt women were just “taking the vet school places and jobs away from men who would have to support a family” and would only work a few years before marrying and quitting the work force, "wasting their education." In 1972 there were very few women veterinarians on the faculty and none in large animal disciplines.

Posted with permission from

Bovine vet online