Perception of Social Gender Roles in Medical Faculty Students

Abstract

Abstract Background “Gender equality’’ is the fifth of the Sustainable Development Goals put forward in order to ensure the development in all areas. Medical faculty students, who will be a doctor, should practice with a gender equality perspective and shape their views and attitudes with equality in mind which will have an important part in the adoption of equality by society. The aim of the study was to evaluate the perception of social gender roles in medical students. Methods This cross - sectional study was performed with all students in Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine. The questionnaire includes sociodemographic characteristics and Gender of Perception Scale(PCS) to measure perception of social gender roles. The scores that can be taken from the scale are ranged from 25 to 125, and high scores indicate that perception of gender is positive and equality. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis were used in univariate analysis; multivariate linear regression was used in multivariate analysis. Results The study group consisted of 1023 (84.3%) students in the study group, 52.8% were females and their ages ranged from 17 to 30 and the mean was 21.36 ± 2.06. The PCS scores ranged from 32 to 125 and the mean was 108.07±16.58. Multivariate linear regression analyzes were performed to determine the factors associated with the PCS. According to the results of last model sex, living with grandparents until the age of 18, region of the majority of life and parental attitudes were found to be related to perception of social gender roles (F = 29.602, R2=0.170, p < 0.001). Conclusions The perception of gender of medical students was found to be positive. Sex and the characteristics of the social environment were related to perception of gender. In order to raise awareness on gender equality, it might be useful to ensure integration in the medical education curriculum. Key messages Factors that can be changed, such as the social characteristics of the living environment, were found to be related to perception of social gender roles. Ensuring gender equality, one of the Sustainable Development Goals, is important for medical students who will be a role model for society.