**2. The agricultural sector**

According to Lincoln (2004), the veterinary profession of old was primarily concerned with horses and other large working animals; this was not surprising, given the strong agricultural basis of earlier local economies. However, as national economies moved away from dominant agricultural bases, the mass manufacture of farm machinery made life somewhat less laboursome for farming communities, reducing the dependence on large working animals and manual labour. Eventually, modernization processes led to the industrialization of both arable and livestock farming (Ilbery & Maye, 2010), with assemblyline production systems incorporated into farming practice to help boost production and lower costs. Through a combination of mechanisation, genetics and artificial inputs, farmers were able to improve yields (Boulton, Rushton, Wathes & Wathes, 2011). As a result, in the dairy sector, milk quotas had to be introduced in the '80s to address overproduction, and this was followed by the deregulation of milk markets in the '90s. Dairy producer numbers declined, lactation yields per cow increased and there was a significant reduction in the number of dairy cattle (Boulton et al; 2011). The impact of such a radical change on the veterinary profession was becoming clear - fewer dairy cattle would eventually mean fewer 'patients' for farm animal vets. Indeed, the gradual reduction in veterinary 'patient' numbers has not been confined to the diary sector. The pig population has also halved over the past fifteen years resulting from a combination of factors including the Euro-pound exchange rate, changes to animal welfare regulations and disease problems (Henry, Baillie & Rushton, 2011). The 'Foot and Mouth' (FMD) epidemic of 2001, in conjunction with changes to EU subsidy payments, has also resulted in a reduced sheep population. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the gradual decline in livestock numbers witnessed by the agricultural sector has been developing over recent decades (Defra, 2010). The net effect of this raft of changes and events has been a reduction in the number of family-run, working farms in the UK, whilst a growth in larger corporate holdings and 'hobby-style' or supplementary-income farms has been noted (Defra, 2009; Rushton & McLeod, 2006; Henry et al., 2011).

EU enlargement, the CAP reform, changing consumer demands and globalization have also impacted negatively on the agricultural sector (Rudmann, 2008), with the scale of support provided to farmers drastically reduced (Alsos, Carter, Ljunggren & Welter, 2011). A gradual decline in income from traditional farming activities has forced many farming businesses to diversify in order to remain viable. Diversification requires farmers to combine other, typically non-agricultural activities with their core farm business. In this regard, conversion of farm buildings for alternative, tourism-related product offerings became a popular choice. Indeed, about 50% of farms in the UK have supplemented traditional incomes through some type of farm diversification (Defra, 2008, as cited by McElwee & Bosworth, 2010: 820). Again, all of this has had a negative impact on the veterinary community, as the trend toward smaller farms with fewer livestock and diversified activities has resulted in less demand for veterinary services overall.

#### **3. The gender shift**

4 A Bird's-Eye View of Veterinary Medicine

areas of the pharmaceutical, bio-science and pet food industries are experiencing similar difficulties. Recent literatures further platform the need for other veterinary professionals, such as advisors in government departments and those responsible for intensive livestock production units, to acquire business and management skills. Such trends, are not confined

Against this backdrop, and by way of providing valuable context for some of the more clinically oriented chapters in this book, our chapter considers some of the recent changes and emerging trends within the broader veterinary sector and the actual and potential impact of these on the veterinary business landscape. In particular, we focus our discussion on changes and trends within three key areas related to veterinary medicine: firstly, the recent changes within the agricultural sector; secondly, the global gender shift toward a predominately female profession and, finally, the evolving veterinary educational curriculum with an emerging trend toward the incorporation of business and management topics. We argue that, collectively, changes in these areas will have a considerable impact on the veterinary sector from a business perspective, and that such impact will be both positive and negative in nature. Given that the extent of the changes and emerging trends in these particular areas is only beginning to gain recognition, little by way of robust academic attention has been paid to their potential impact from a business perspective. As a consequence, there is a dearth of research at both the conceptual and empirical level in these

In this conceptual chapter, we explore the above issues by reviewing relevant literatures, identifying current trends and discussing the potential impact of these on the veterinary profession. With few studies in this particular area, the authors adopt an inductive approach, designed to generate new understanding and propositions for further research (Rosa & Dawson, 2006). Following this introductory section, we examine some of the recent changes within the agricultural sector and the impact of these on the veterinary profession. This is followed by a discussion of the gender shift currently being experienced within the profession and, subsequently, the emerging trend within veterinary curricula to include business and entrepreneurship modules. With regard to the latter, the potential impact of such curricula developments on employable skills is explored. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the implications of all these changes for the veterinary sector and offers some suggestions for future research. Thus, the authors lay the theoretical foundation for future empirical work in this field by debating some key concepts and generating hypotheses for future study. Specifically, the authors posit that veterinary curricula will need to continue to adapt to ensure graduates are equipped with the relevant skills and abilities to enable them to keep pace with the dynamic and highly competitive industry in which they will eventually work. In this regard, the incorporation of business and entrepreneurship

According to Lincoln (2004), the veterinary profession of old was primarily concerned with horses and other large working animals; this was not surprising, given the strong agricultural basis of earlier local economies. However, as national economies moved away from dominant agricultural bases, the mass manufacture of farm machinery made life somewhat less laboursome for farming communities, reducing the dependence on large

to the UK, rather, they would appear to be global phenomena.

areas, with a clear need for extant literature to be developed and expanded.

education will be critical.

**2. The agricultural sector** 

The veterinary profession has traditionally been a male domain, however, in recent years, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of women entering veterinary medicine (BVA/AVS, 2008; Lowe, 2009). By way of example, in 1998, one in three vets in the UK were female, with 57% of those under thirty being women; by 2002, 37% of vets registered with RCVS were female (RCVS, 2002), whereas in 2010, seventy one percent of UK vets under 40 were female (RCVS, 2010: viii). The recent '2010 Survey of the UK Veterinary and Veterinary Nursing Professions' (RCVS, 2010) highlighted that fifty-four percent of respondent veterinarians working in practice were women; furthermore, eightyfour percent of respondents in veterinary practice were employed within clinical veterinary

The Veterinary Business Landscape: Contemporary Issues and Emerging Trends 7

the salary to be off-putting to male students. The salary of veterinary practitioners is significantly less than that of their human medicine counterparts and, therefore, men may be more inclined to train in human medicine. Zhao (2002) indicates that males and females choose their careers for different reasons – women will select something they are passionate about and think they will enjoy, whereas financial reward tends to shape the options considered by men. Zhao (2002) points to anecdotal evidence that men consider their longerterm futures and ability to provide for their families; similarly, he posits that an attraction for women to veterinary medicine is the ability to work part-time when raising young children, an option that has not traditionally been open to medical professionals to the same

Interestingly, Lincoln (2010) found that young males were more likely to be deterred from applying to veterinary schools where faculty is predominately female. Research also suggests that men are dissuaded from entering female dominated professions as 'women's work' tends to attract lower salaries (Reskin & Roos, 1990; Lincoln 2004). It certainly seems that the veterinary profession is likely to become increasingly feminised in the medium to long term, and that the implications of such feminisation for future veterinary businesses

Admission to veterinary programmes around the globe is a highly competitive process, with candidates typically required to attain top grades in science-based subjects to qualify for entry. Owing to the large number of applicants to veterinary schools, interviews often form part of the selection process. Although curricula will vary from provider to provider, veterinary programmes are extremely intensive courses of study and typically include preclinical, para-clinical and clinical components. In addition, as part of their extramural study (EMS), veterinary students are required to spend a considerable amount of time over the course of their degree in a range of veterinary practices and hospitals to gain practical clinical experience. In the UK, course duration is typically five years, although it can be

In addition to an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the scientific and clinical aspects, veterinary students also need to have a grasp of the legal, ethical and social elements of veterinary practice. Thus, communication and interpersonal skills; responsible and professional behaviour, and an understanding of the business context of veterinary practice are now recognized as important areas that should be incorporated into veterinary curricula. With particular regard to the latter, it was a group of women veterinary surgeons in the UK who, in 1941, first called for business training to be included within veterinary programmes (Aitken, 1994). While such calls are gaining momentum, the Lowe Report (2009) highlights that UK veterinary graduates remain insufficiently prepared for effective business management or leadership, this despite the fact that most will probably work within or lead a small veterinary business at some stage in their careers. More specifically, Lowe (2009) called for the inclusion of business planning, marketing, human resource management and an awareness of the veterinary business environment to be provided to veterinary students as part of their undergraduate training so that, upon entering the workplace, they would be equipped to offer clients treatments and prevention strategies

extent.

now need to be given serious consideration.

**4. Veterinary education** 

longer elsewhere.

practice and fifty-seven percent of those were women. Indeed, in 2011, women outnumber men as working veterinarians in the UK; moreover, eighty percent of veterinary undergraduates are female (RCVS, 2010). This significant shift in the gender make-up of both the student and practicing professional veterinary populations raises a number of important issues relating to educational strategies, career orientation, pay, working practices, and the general future direction of the profession. All of these, as will be discussed in section five of this chapter, will have a direct impact on the future veterinary business landscape.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, the trend toward a predominantly female profession is not restricted to the UK. According to statistics from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the number of female veterinarians in the US more than doubled between 1991 and 2002 (Zhao, 2002). Whereas only 5% of applications to US vet schools were from females in the late 1960s, by the end of the 1990s, over seventy percent of applications were from young women.

The increasing numbers and dominance of women within the veterinary profession have also been discussed in several other countries (see, for example, Heath (2007) in relation to Australia; Lofstedt (2003) in relation to Canada, and Basagac Gul et al. (2008) with regard to Turkey). Collectively, such data suggest that the 'feminization' of the veterinary profession is not only a global phenomenon but also looks set to continue for some time.

With regard to the 'cause' of this phenomenon, several explanations have been offered, including improvement in chemical restraints available for large animals, the elimination of gender-based admission discrimination and the generally caring portrayal of veterinarians in both the literature and on television (Lofstedt, 2003:534). Controversially, perhaps, the marked increase in women entering the veterinary profession and, in parallel, the decline in men's participation, may also be attributed to the relatively lower salary levels of veterinary professionals (Lofstedt, 2003). This hypothesis builds on Tuchman's (1989) argument that professions deemed to be lacking in appropriate economic incentives and, by association, cultural legitimacy, may quickly lose their attraction for men. It must be noted, however, that despite the increasing number of women entering veterinary medicine and the fact that women now make up more than half the veterinary workforce, most veterinary businesses, whether based on traditional practice or the commercialisation of scientific research, are still led by men. Thus, to date, women have not featured prominently as business leaders within the veterinary profession, nor have they been perceived as potential entrepreneurs or innovators. This point is particularly important, because based on what we know about women and business ownership/entrepreneurship generally (see, for example, Brush, 1997; Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Green & Hart, 2001; Henry & Treanor, 2010), it is unlikely that current levels of veterinary entrepreneurship will be maintained or, indeed, increased in a female dominated veterinary sector.

As with the majority of professional disciplines, veterinary colleges are the 'gatekeepers to the profession' (Andrews, 2009). However, the merit-based admission system now in place, whilst undoubtedly facilitating women's entry into the profession, means that it is veterinary 'applicants', rather than veterinary 'students' who should be profiled to gauge the attractiveness of (or barriers to) veterinary medicine (Andrews 2009; Lincoln, 2004). For example, in the US, Zhao (2002) reports that both vet students and veterinarians consider the salary to be off-putting to male students. The salary of veterinary practitioners is significantly less than that of their human medicine counterparts and, therefore, men may be more inclined to train in human medicine. Zhao (2002) indicates that males and females choose their careers for different reasons – women will select something they are passionate about and think they will enjoy, whereas financial reward tends to shape the options considered by men. Zhao (2002) points to anecdotal evidence that men consider their longerterm futures and ability to provide for their families; similarly, he posits that an attraction for women to veterinary medicine is the ability to work part-time when raising young children, an option that has not traditionally been open to medical professionals to the same extent.

Interestingly, Lincoln (2010) found that young males were more likely to be deterred from applying to veterinary schools where faculty is predominately female. Research also suggests that men are dissuaded from entering female dominated professions as 'women's work' tends to attract lower salaries (Reskin & Roos, 1990; Lincoln 2004). It certainly seems that the veterinary profession is likely to become increasingly feminised in the medium to long term, and that the implications of such feminisation for future veterinary businesses now need to be given serious consideration.
