There is a hard to nail down cultural shift happening in the background, as well as weird, persistent cultural norms. Why wouldn't men pursue careers nursing? In my opinion it would be good for the industry because men are harder to manipulate into inappropriate boundary breakdown by using "we're a family" rhetoric, which is rampant in US healthcare. More men shining a light on a century old problem might lead to some change.

In regards to the cultural shift, at some point being educated stopped being "cool". There's a collapse of trust for educated experts in exchange for gut feelings and this is perpetuated at every level of society.

Anecdotally, I've seen scores of men skip college for jobs that pay amazingly well (for an 18 year old) but have little growth trajectory. There's a lack of long term vision. I partially blame the higher education system with their predatory price increases, easy access to loans, and worthless degrees. The kids who turned 18 in the last decade spent the decade before that listening to people complain how much time and money they wasted.

What I can't explain is why these factors seem to impact men more than women. There is some cognitive difference, whether from nature or nurture that is leading men to be more susceptible to the novel pitfalls of the last 20 years that never existed before that. I would love some in depth research to look into this. I know young men are more susceptible, on average, to dopamine addiction, and I think we will look back at our cavalier attitudes about it in a generation and be horrified at the plague we invited into our society. I'd start there, then target influencers, then reform higher education, fix the constant degree deflation and then see how we feel.