Abstract
BackgroundThe literature investigating female and male medical students’ differing career intentions is extensive. However, medical school experiences and their implications for professional identity formation and specialty choice have attracted less attention. In this study we explore the impact of medical school experiences on students’ specialty preferences, investigate gender similarities and differences, and discuss how both might be related to gender segregation in specialty preference.MethodsIn a questionnaire, 250 Swedish final-year medical students described experiences that made them interested and uninterested in a specialty. Utilizing a sequential mixed methods design, their responses were analyzed qualitatively to create categories that were compared quantitatively.ResultsSimilar proportions of women and men became interested in a specialty based on its knowledge area, patient characteristics, and potential for work-life balance. These aspects, however, often became secondary to whether they felt included or excluded in clinical settings. More women than men had been deterred by specialties with excluding, hostile, or sexist workplace climates (W = 44%, M = 16%). In contrast, more men had been discouraged by specialties’ knowledge areas (W = 27%, M = 47%).ConclusionsMale and female undergraduates have similar incentives and concerns regarding their career. However, the prevalence of hostility and sexism in the learning environment discourages especially women from some specialties. To reduce gender segregation in specialty choice, energy should be directed towards counteracting hostile workplace climates that explain apparent stereotypical assumptions about career preferences of men and women.
Highlights
The literature investigating female and male medical students’ differing career intentions is extensive
Our aim was to explore the impact of medical school experiences on students’ specialty preferences, to investigate similarities and differences between men and women regarding the character and consequences of experiences described, and to discuss how this might be related to gender segregation in specialty preference
We decided to confine our study to final year students since they were most likely to be reflecting on their study period and their forthcoming specialty choices
Summary
The literature investigating female and male medical students’ differing career intentions is extensive. There is research showing how experiences during clinical training, such as role modeling or exposure to harassment, affect students’ sense of belonging and (dis)identification on different wards, driving them to avoid particular specialties [11,12,13,14,15,16]. Most of these studies have been conducted solely among female students or have explored interest in specific specialties. It might be called the gendered hidden curriculum as professional standards in medicine have been shown to still adhere to traditional masculine norms of objectivity, detachment, authority, and competition rather than involvement, cooperation, and empathy [21, 24, 25]
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