Women of Vision survey

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2010 was a landmark year for women eye care practitioners in the UK as, for the first time, female optometrists outnumbered men in the workforce.1 In fact for the past four years, a majority of optometrists on the Opticians Register have been women, and female dispensing opticians overtook their male counterparts back in 2003.

The latest figures show that 56 per of registered optometrists and 58 per cent of dispensing opticians are women.2 Contrast this with 30 years ago, when the corresponding figures were just 18 per cent and 26 per cent. The number of women entering the profession is also set to grow, with 63 per cent of optometry students and as many as 71 per cent of student DOs now female.