GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE PERCEPTION OF PRESENCE OF, AND SEARCH FOR, CALLING DURING MEDICAL SCHOOL

Abstract

This study focused on the manner in which a sense of calling - presence and search - is perceived by first- and final-year male and female medical students. Differences in level of calling between first-year students and last-year students were predicted, more so for women than for men due to gender bias and family-work integration challenges. A total of 192 medical first and sixth (last) year students at the five Israeli medical schools filled-out a short self-report measure of calling and recorded demographic factors. Discriminate function analysis resulted in one significant discriminate function weighted positively on presence of calling and negatively on search for calling. Group centroids indicate that male medical students perceived presence of calling and search for calling as two poles of a bipolar continuum, whereas first-year students had a distinct feeling of the presence of calling coupled with a low need to search for calling and final-year students had a low feeling of presence of calling coupled with a distinct need to search for calling. In contrast, female medical students - both first-year and final-year - perceived presence and search as two independent dimensions that can coexist. Understanding these differences may be important in helping medical educators find gender-specific ways to maintain and enhance feelings of calling among tomorrow’s male and female physicians. Key words: gender, medical students, presence of calling, search for calling.