This article is an excerpt from the Changes & Challenges report.
In his book The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway wrote that a change happened “gradually then suddenly.” Looking at the optometric profession, a gradual-then-sudden change might be seen as well. The shift was certainly gradual for decades after Gertrude Stanton became the first woman to receive a license to practice optometry around 1900. In 1912, William Lawson became the first Black optometrist in North America, earning his degree from the Toronto School of Optometry in Canada. Jennie Chai Louie Mew became the first woman, first Asian and youngest graduate to earn a degree from Berkeley Optometry in 1931. In 1939, Julieta Arias [Burda] became the first Hispanic graduate, graduating from the Berkeley program. Hundreds of “firsts” have followed.
By the mid-1960s and 1970s, about 10% of the optometry school admissions were female students. By the late 1990s, the number of female students entering optometry schools was about equal to the number of men. Since 2009, it hasn’t dropped below 60% female for incoming first-year students.
RELATIVELY SLOW GROWTH
With about 1,700 students graduating each year and about 1,200 ODs retiring, the shifts in the workforce remain fairly gradual. At the end of 2024, there were an estimated 49,345 ODs in the U.S., according to data tracked by Richard Edlow, OD, the Eyeconomist.
Dr. Edlow works with American Optometric Association data and applies formulas for male and female ODs coming into the profession and those leaving. The number of new entrants can be gleaned from graduation documentation from the schools and colleges of optometry, but estimating the retirements can be a little trickier.
The optometric workforce is now 50.2% female, a tipping point that has been years in the making.
Female graduates have outnumbered male graduates in optometry schools for much of the past two decades. Yet the transition to a majority-female profession has been much slower.
Among ODs 61 and older, the vast majority are men. In the 51- to 60-year-old cohort, the numbers become more equal, and among ODs under 50, women comprise the majority.
However, a traditional retirement age doesn’t necessarily apply to optometry. Optometrists can maintain their licenses and practice full or part time in clinical, academic or consulting positions for years beyond age 65.
IS THERE A PLATEAU?
In other professions where the workforce undergoes a gender shift, it seems that the numbers of women plateau before the ratio reaches graduation rates. Dr. Edlow’s estimations, extrapolated to 2035, show a female workforce of less than 57%, for example.
Societal and cultural factors can play a role. First, women generally take more time off to have and raise children. That can mean more stepping on and off the career pathway. These interruptions to work can also have financial implications for women’s earning potential, as do all multiple factors that could hinder parity: the glass ceiling, sticky floor or broken rung.
Although work-life balance is also a goal for many men, the social stigma of taking time off or being seen as less committed to work may hit women harder. Some women need to delay alternatives, such as working at a different practice, opening a practice or working in a nonclinical setting. In a 2022 AOA report, 58% of practice owners were male and 55% of the employed ODs were female.
In addition, as technology and other evolutions support and foster changes in the profession, those too could impact where and how optometrists choose to work. Gen Z-ers, now the dominant generation in the U.S. workforce, are known for their focus on work-life balance, flexibility, technology and corporate ethics. As optometrists and employees settling into the workforce, their influence remains to be seen.
DIVSERITY RISING
The composition of today’s optometry schools indicates where the workforce demographics are gradually headed.
In its annual student data reports, the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry details enrollment figures by race and ethnicity.
Total enrollment in optometry schools has grown from 5,556 in the 2007-2008 academic year to 7,220 in the 2023-2024 year. While there were more white students in optometry school in 2023 than in 2007 (3,499 compared to 3,349), the percentage has dropped from 60.3% to 48.5% in that time. Most minority groups saw enrollment increase, with Asian students accounting for 1,380 students in 2007-2008 and 2,260 in 2023-2024. Hispanic enrollment has increased from 255 students in 2007-2008 to 636 in 2023-2024, and Black students accounted for 172 enrollees 2007-2008 and 312 in 2023-2024.
Even so, many racial or ethnic groups remain under-represented in optometry schools as students or professors and in the workforce. For example, people of Hispanic ethnicity comprise 19.5% of the U.S. population according to the U.S. Census Bureau but are less than nine percent of optometry school students. Black students accounted for 4.3% of optometry school enrollees in 2023-2024, while Census Bureau data shows Black Americans comprise 13.7% of the U.S. population. Many organizations and schools are working to increase diversity and representation in the workforce.
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ORGANIZATIONS PROMOTING DIVERSITY
Asian American Optometric Society
National Optometric Association
The Changes & Challenges report is supported by Alcon.
