The sample included 125 men (10Æ8%)
in EX2002 and 185 men (10Æ9%) in EX2004. Students in the
EX2002 cohort were older, with a mean age of 30Æ5 years
(min 21 max 52, mode 23, median 28) compared with a
mean age of 28Æ4 years (min 20 max 52, mode 21, median
26) for EX2004. This age difference is most likely due to the
time of data collection; EX2002 responded to the questionnaire
in their 6th semester whereas EX2004 responded to the
questionnaire in their second semester. The EX2004 cohort
had a higher degree of nursing students with an immigrant
background than the EX2002 cohort (8Æ8% vs. 5Æ5%) and
the EX2002 cohort had a higher degree of nursing students
with working class background than the EX2004 (46Æ3% vs.
40Æ1%). Nearly 60% of the nursing students in EX2004 had
previous experience of healthcare work compared with 53%
in EX2002. Thirty per cent of the students in EX2002 were
stressed about their career choice compared with 22% in
EX2004 (Table 1).