Latest news with #JamesHerriot
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
The real reason fewer men may be choosing to become vets
If you take your dog, cat or fish to see a vet in the UK, the person who treats them is likely to be a woman. According to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 61 per cent of current UK vets are female. University admissions are even more skewed. Among vets who had recently qualified, nearly 80 per cent were female. This wasn't always the case. In the 1930s, when James Herriot – author of books including All Creatures Great and Small and for many the iconic British vet – was practising, almost all vets were male. The women's liberation movement of the 60s and 70s saw an influx of female vet students. You might expect a levelling of the playing field to lead to a profession now equally split between genders, but that isn't so. I teach veterinary clinical communication skills to veterinary students. My research relates to developing communication strategies that are effective across a wide range of cultures and social groups. However, vets are not very culturally diverse: as well as the majority being female, nearly all are heterosexual and white. This can limit their experience and understanding of different perspectives. As part of a wider piece of research into student experience of communication, I have reviewed the history of veterinary demographics, with some surprising results. Historically, vets worked mainly on farms with large animals, for which clients perceived physical strength to be crucial. Increasing pet ownership means most vets now work with small animals. This change in focus has altered society's perception of veterinary work from 'practical' to 'caring', and it has been suggested that this has discouraged boys from considering the profession. Veterinary salaries have also stagnated for some time, which may make the job less attractive to men. There is very little research to support any of these theories, but the most relevant and largest study available comes from the US in 2010. When applications to vet schools across the country from the 1960s to early 2000s were reviewed, one factor predicted student choice: the more female students there were, the less likely males were to apply. This is an understudied sociological phenomenon called 'male flight' or 'gender flight'. It seems that, in some professions at least, men lose interest once the number of women rises above 60 per cent. Another study of UK workplaces found the same thing when modelling various reasons for gender disparities. Men not choosing professions such as pharmacy and accountancy due to the increased female presence was the best explanation. These findings are concerning when connected with a UK study from 2018 called Drawing the Future. Thirteen thousand UK school children aged between seven and 11 were asked to draw pictures of their dream job. Researchers found that – perhaps unsurprisingly – dream jobs were strongly gendered, and that this happens from a young age. 'Vet' was third overall, a very popular job choice. But when you split that by gender, it was the second most popular job for girls, but only ninth for boys. This very much matches the gender balance of vet school applicants, so we can hypothesise that attitudes to being a vet are set early in life. Need for diversity Most diversity initiatives aim to reduce barriers for underrepresented groups. The veterinary profession isn't nearly as diverse as it could be – only around 4 per cent of vets come from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to 18 per cent of people in the UK population overall. Various reasons for this have been suggested, including a lack of representation and financial barriers. But we actually don't know why this is; applications to veterinary medicine by non-white students are lower than for other degrees. But in the case of gender, boys can become vets. They simply don't want to. There's value in diversity in general within the veterinary profession. Vets don't just work in clinics with pets: they also play a key public health role, preventing disease in animal populations and ensuring the health and welfare of farm animals. There are many animal charities that rely on vets to help support the human-animal bond, such as rescuing and rehoming animals, working with pets belonging to homeless people, or caring for the pets of people fleeing domestic violence. This means working with people from all over the UK, from all backgrounds. Many studies of stress in the veterinary profession identify difficulties with communication as a key problem. Indeed, communication is highlighted as a key skill for veterinary students by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and many studies of veterinary education. But there lies a challenge common to homogeneous professions. Learning to communicate effectively with others is more difficult when there is less diversity. This issue of gender flight has broader social implications. When men leave a profession due to increased numbers of women, wages tend to stagnate, which is a serious issue for students who frequently leave their five-year vet degrees with substantial debt. One place to start might be looking at how young children view vets – and what might make it a profession to choose as a result of personal ability and preference, rather than social pressure.
Scottish Sun
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Jim Herriot dead: Scotland goalkeeper who gave name to TV vet in All Creatures Great and Small passes away aged 85
LEGEND GONE Jim Herriot dead: Scotland goalkeeper who gave name to TV vet in All Creatures Great and Small passes away aged 85 Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LEGENDARY Scottish goalkeeper Jim Herriot has tragically died at the age of 85. Touching tributes are now pouring in for Herriot, who gave his name to the character in the books and TV show All Creatures Great and Small. 2 British goalkeeper Jim Herriot during a Birmingham City portrait session Credit: Getty 2 Jim Herriot is on the ground (left) during an FA Cup third round match in 1970 Credit: Getty On Saturday, April 26, the club posted a touching tribute on social media, saying it is "deeply saddened" to announce the passing of the icon. All Creatures Great and Small follows the adventures of a young vet, James Herriot, who moves to the Yorkshire Dales during the 1930s. The much-loved Channel 5 show is in fact based on a series of novels written by author James Herriot, whose real name was James Alfred Wight, The first book was published in 1969, under the title If Only They Could Talk. This title was later changed by an American publisher to All Creatures Great and Small, and saw sales be boosted considerably. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.
The Sun
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Jim Herriot dead: Scotland goalkeeper who gave name to TV vet in All Creatures Great and Small passes away aged 85
LEGENDARY Scottish goalkeeper Jim Herriot has tragically died at the age of 85. Touching tributes are now pouring in for Herriot, who gave his name to the character in the books and TV show All Creatures Great and Small. 2 2 On Saturday, April 26, the club posted a touching tribute on social media, saying it is "deeply saddened" to announce the passing of the icon. All Creatures Great and Small follows the adventures of a young vet, James Herriot, who moves to the Yorkshire Dales during the 1930s. The much-loved Channel 5 show is in fact based on a series of novels written by author James Herriot, whose real name was James Alfred Wight, The first book was published in 1969, under the title If Only They Could Talk. This title was later changed by an American publisher to All Creatures Great and Small, and saw sales be boosted considerably. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Good Friday sees debut instalment of new James Herriot walking tour
A new James Herriot walking tour has launched in Thirsk. The tour offers people the chance to explore the hometown of the world-famous veterinary surgeon and author, Alf Wight OBE, better known as James Herriot. The inaugural walk took place on Good Friday at noon. Future tours will take place every Friday, subject to availability, for £5 per person. A combined ticket to visit the museum and take the walking tour will be £10. Beginning at the World of James Herriot, the tour takes participants through key locations in Thirsk that inspired Herriot's beloved All Creatures Great and Small books, films, and television series. A spokesperson added: "From the original veterinary surgery to significant town landmarks, this immersive experience will offer fresh insights into the life and legacy of James Herriot." Thirsk became the fictional Darrowby in All Creatures Great and Small. For more information, please visit
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
I've got a new secret weapon against insomnia: a £20 strip of padded fabric
I'm having a night-time love affair. A blinding, unwashed, entirely distracting relationship that I turn to when everyone else in my house is asleep. My new bedmate whispers in my ear when I'm supposed to be sleeping and leaves imprints on my neck in the morning. That's right: I'm talking about my new sleep mask with built-in wireless speakers. When I got pregnant last year, my body appeared to forget, entirely, how to sleep. Which was fun, as everyone around me started to joke rather grimly about precisely how tired I was about to make myself for the next 18 years. But then my husband presented me with a small, padded strip of grey velvet fabric, through which I can play precisely the sort of soporific audio that quells even my most brutal insomnia. Perhaps it's a hangover from being lulled into unconsciousness by audiobooks as a small child, but nothing sends me off like talking. However, when you share a bed with someone, it can be difficult to crank up the volume on, say, James Herriot's If Only They Could Talk without rousing the rabble. Which is where the sleep mask comes in. For less than £20, I can enter a one-woman sensory deprivation chamber every night, in which I can't see and can't hear anyone snorting, snoring, coughing or calling for attention at 11.27pm. The story is piped directly into my ears – I have resolutely refrained from looking up the potential medical effects of Bluetooth speakers positioned so close to your brain, and I'd appreciate it if nobody enlightened me. And, as long as I remember to set the timer, they will turn off after half an hour, 45 minutes or even two hours. In the middle of the night, after changing a nappy, I often forget to do this last bit, and so have the slightly disorienting experience of falling asleep listening to Frank Skinner discuss the works of Seamus Heaney, only to wake up three hours later with a programme about the infiltration of the IRA by British intelligence or the Desert Island Discs of Clarissa Dickson Wright blasting away against my skull. But that's the thing about love – it's unpredictable. Nell Frizzell is the author of Holding the Baby: Milk, Sweat and Tears from the Frontline of Motherhood
