Medical Students' Perception of the Educational Environment in a Gender-Segregated Undergraduate Program

Abstract

Background: The environment where education takes place is essential for students’ engagement and motivation. This study aimed at assessing students’ perception of their educational environment at a private medical college and the influence of gender, among other factors, on it. Objectives: The study assessed the students’ perception of their learning environment, determined the gender effect on environment perception, and examined the correlation between different study variables. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on 340 undergraduate medical students at a private college with gender-segregated programs. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) was used to determine the students' perception of their learning environment. This was correlated with a set of variables, including gender and educational achievement as indicated by students' GPA. Results: The overall DREEM score was ‘more positive than negative’ (114.39/200). The scores of subscales were towards the positive side. This was evident in the perception of learning (26.64/48), perception of teaching (26.36/44), perception of the atmosphere (26.51/48), academic self-perception (19.54/32), and social self-perception (15.33/28). Conclusions: There were statistically significant differences between the perceptions of males and females in both the overall DREEM scale (females: 117.59/200 and males: 111.18/200) and three of the subscales. Female students perceived their learning environment more positively. Moreover, satisfaction with the learning environment was correlated with scholastic achievement. In addition, the more positively perceived learning environment could explain higher scholastic achievement in female students than in male students.