Table 3.

Themes, subthemes and categories of the qualitative analysis.

Themes	Subthemes	Categories
1. Stereotypes relating to professionals’ gender	1.1. Stereotypes of nurses	C.1 Female nurses: the ideal gender for nursing
		C.2 Female nurses: family struggles
	1.2 Stereotypes of male nurses	C.3 Male nurses: out of place
		C.4 Male nurses: male weakness or homosexuality
		C.5 Male nurses: a sexual threat
		C.6 Male nurses: shame and embarrassment
		C.7 Male nurses: physical strength
		C.8 Male nurses: should be doctors
2. Stereotypes of the nursing profession		C.9 An unknown profession
		C.10 A valued but not prestigious profession
		C.11 A subordinate profession
		C.12 A profession with low academic requirements
		C.13 A profession with questionable working conditions