Learn about the types of people who become occupational therapists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
74% of occupational therapists work in full-time roles while 26% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming an occupational therapist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More women than men are interested in becoming occupational therapists at a ratio of 1.66 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
88% of occupational therapists are female and 12% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being an occupational therapist and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming an occupational therapist and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are significantly more men interested in becoming an occupational therapist than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of occupational therapists are White, making up 63% of the population. The next highest segments are Black or African American and East Asian, making up 9% and 9% respectively.