[Subjectivity of nursing college students' awareness of gender equality: an application of Q-methodology].

Purpose: This study was done to identify the awareness of gender equality among nursing college students, and to provide basic data for educational solutions and desirable directions.

Methods: A Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. 34 selected Q-statements from each of 20 women nursing college students were classified into a shape of normal distribution using 9-point scale. Subjectivity on the equality among genders was analyzed by the pc-QUANL program.

Results: Four types of awareness of gender equality in nursing college students were identified. The name for type I was 'pursuit of androgyny', for type II, 'difference-recognition', for type III, 'human-relationship emphasis', and for type IV, 'social-system emphasis'.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that different approaches to educational programs on gender equality are recommended for nursing college students based on the four types of gender equality awareness.