The gender differences in young dentists' confidence-which favoured male dentists-require further inquiries. More attention should be paid in dental education to constructively support students with differences in learning clinical skills.

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Introduction For over the last 20 years, approximately 70% of working dentists in Finland have been women. However, there is internal division of the profession along gender lines. Female dentists work more often in the public sector and male dentists in the private sector. The aim of this study was to investigate the gender differences in young dentists’ early career choices, specialization plans, values and perceptions of professional identity. Materials and methods The data were taken from a national e‐mail questionnaire study called “Young Dentist,” which was sent to 458 dentists who had received their licence to practise dentistry in 2014‐2016 from all four universities with dental curricula in Finland. A total of 52% young dentists (n = 238) answered the questionnaire. Results and discussion The results indicated that whereas female dentists were more likely to perceive themselves as comforters, social workers and health promoters, male dentists tended to perceive themselves as technicians. These professional identities were interrelated with early‐stage career choices in which female dentists worked more often in the public than in the private sector when compared to male dentists. There were also clear gender differences in the importance of values and the specialization plans of the young dentists. Conclusion Young dentists in Finland make career choices and develop professional identity in accordance with the attributes traditionally associated with cultural ideals related to femininity and masculinity.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This article aims to introduce a two-dimensional instrument for the measurement of the social capital of professions. On a general level, the social capital of a profession is defined as a source of power that allows a profession to further its goals and maintain its professional identity. Design/methodology/approach -The measure is developed and tested by using data collected among Finnish dentists (N ¼ 1,302) in April 2012. The methods employed include confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), mean comparisons (ANOVA and t-test) and OLS regression. Data analysis is guided by theories of social capital, especially the Putnamian tradition, and the literature on modern professions. Findings -The first dimension of social capital is social cohesion, which consists of solidarity, trust, identification and commitment to professional ethical principles. The second dimension of social capital is network density, which includes both formal and informal professional networks. Social cohesion and network density are positively correlated. By conceptualizing social capital as an individual-level attribute, this research shows that the employment of dentists across the public and private sectors increases the social capital of the profession. Originality/value -Until now no tools have been available for the measurement of the social capital of professions. The article also sheds new light on the nature of modern professions, their associations and sources of power in contemporary societies.

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