Over the years I've been teaching firearms, my fellow instructors and I have developed a defensive rifle program that gradually brings the novice (male or female) shooter into rifles.
Start off with a Ruger 10-22. You can get all sorts of detachable magazines from 10, 20 ,30, 50 to some 100 rounders. It has low recoil and low discomfort factors. This stage of firearms is where you drill the basics into them about safe handling, accuracy of fire, trigger control and breathing. The ammo for the 10-22 is cheap, generally less than $15.00 a brick of 1K rounds, and it is easy to load. Have them learn to shoot with the Ruger 10-22 until they're really comfortable with it. Have them do double taps, high speed (close range) shooting and have them shoot distant targets for accuracy. Once they are really proficient with their 10-22 then introduce them to their next shoulder mounted firearm:
The .30 caliber carbine. Again, it is a magazine-fed firearm that has low recoil and a low discomfort factor for newer shooters. Since the Ruger is only slightly different than the .30 caliber carbine, it won't take the novice shooter long to master this firearm.
Next in line would be the .223 caliber M-4 or AR-15 rifles/carbines. I like going from the .30 caliber carbine to the M-4 carbine because the M-4 carbine is more compact and more controllable for the novice shooter. Again, because they've already mastered the first two firearms, it won't take long for the newer shooter to become good with the .223 firearms.
Next I would have them try using a 7.62 X 39 firearm. I like using the AK type of shoulder-mounted firearms instead of the SKS carbines. It is at this stage of shooting rifles/carbines that some students "peak out" or feel no need to go beyond a 7.62 X 39 firearm. Because they've mastered a number of other firearms, they won't need to take a whole lot of time learning their basic skills over again. Most students tend to settle back in with the .223/5.56 M-4 AR-15 type firearms. It is at this stage that your novice shooters generally end up feeling comfortable and self-reliant about owning/shooting a decent .223 firearm.
This sytem works real good and is very safe with new shooters or shooters trying to gradually develop their skills.