Career obstacles for women in medicine: an overview

Reed, Victoria; Buddeberg-Fischer, Barbara

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2923.2001.00837.x

Cited by 133 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…20 It has been suggested that this sex imbalance may be caused by rigidity in medical training programs and sex-based discrimination. 21 The 31-to 40-year modal age group in the present study is similar to that in previous reports in Nigeria 5 and America, 22 and reflects both disruption in the educational process and the current practice of most graduates working in the private or public health sector to attain financial stability before enrolling in a specialist training program. The spectrum of career choice was biased in favor of clinical specialties.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Factors Influencing Choice of Medical Specialty of Preresidency Medical Graduates in Southeastern Nigeria

Eze¹,

Okoye²,

Maduka-Okafor³

et al. 2011

Journal of Graduate Medical Education

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Background This study examined the determinants of specialty choice of preresidency medical graduates in southeastern Nigeria. Methods We used a comparative cross-sectional survey of preresidency medical graduates who took the Basic Sciences Examination of the Postgraduate Medical College in Enugu, southeastern Nigeria, in March 2007. Data on participants' demographics and specialty selected, the timing of the decision, and factors in specialty selection were collected using a questionnaire. Data were examined using descriptive and analytical statistics. P < .05 was considered significant. Results The survey response rate was 90.8% (287 of 316). The sample included 219 men and 68 women, ranging in age from 24 to 53 years and with a mean age of 33.5 ± 1.1 (SD) years. Career choice was more frequently influenced by personal interest (66.6%), career prospects (9.1%), and appraisal of own skills/aptitudes (5.6%), and it was least affected by altruistic motives (1.7%) and influence of parents/relations (1.7%). The respondents selected specialties at different rates: obstetrics and gynecology (22.6%), surgery (19.6%), pediatrics (16.0%), anesthesiology (3.1%), psychiatry (0.3%), and dentistry (0.0%). Most (97.2%) participants had decided on specialty choice by the end of their fifth (of a total 16 years) postgraduate year. The participants significantly more frequently preferred surgery and pediatrics to other disciplines (P < .002, after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons). Conclusions Preresidency medical graduates in southeastern Nigeria were influenced by personal interest, career prospects, and personal skills/aptitude in deciding which specialty training to pursue. The most frequently chosen specialties were surgery and pediatrics. These findings have implications for Nigeria's education and health care policy makers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Factors Influencing Choice of Medical Specialty of Preresidency Medical Graduates in Southeastern Nigeria

Eze¹,

Okoye²,

Maduka-Okafor³

et al. 2011

Journal of Graduate Medical Education

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“…Reed & Buddeberg-Fischer (2001) argue that as it is in specialty choices that the significant gender differences are displayed, which indicates that obstacles for equal career goals are due to rigidity in career structures, and that gender discrimination acts synergistically with domestic responsibilities and parenting. Therefore, there is a risk of gender blindness if we uncritically rely on old ideals and the oath of a calling, when facing a new generation of parenting doctors.…”

Section: Gender Issues In Medical Socializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

From calling to a scheduled vocation: Swedish male and female students’ reflections on being a doctor

Johansson

Hamberg

2007

Medical Teacher

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Background: All over the world an increasing number of women are entering medical schools. Soon women will constitute half of the physician workforce in Scandinavia. However, specialty segregation persists. Reports have shown different motives among male and female doctors to be, but the impact of gender, i.e. how ongoing social constructions of femininity and masculinity influence the development of professionalism, is not fully described. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore views and visions among second-year students at a Swedish Medical School, and to identify challenges for education and workforce planning. Methods: After receiving research ethics board approval, all students participating in the course 'Professional development', including a task to write a free-text essay on the theme 'to be a doctor', were invited to share their essays for analysis. Of 138 (40% men) students in 2002, 104 (39% men) accepted. The texts were analysed according to grounded theory. Results: Students held 'doctorship' to be an outstanding profession of commitment, authority and duty. Fears were exposed, especially among women, regarding how to fit demands of self-sacrifices and balancing a private life. Belonging to a new generation, they conceived gender equity as self-evident. Actual working conditions were met with disapproval, as did an allembracing calling. A scheduled vocation was hoped for. They relied on the mass of women to implement change. Women's 'other' values, alluding to family orientation, were expected to alter working conditions and also give men more leisure time. Despite equity conviction, segregating gender patterns in students' representations, interactions with tutors and future prospects were disclosed. Conclusions: Students' arguments raise challenges for medical educators and planners regarding professional values, medical socialization and specialty recruitment. The new generation requires a renewed Hippocratic Oath, gender-aware role models and practice sites. Swedish students' arguments are compared with current international literature.

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“…La Encuesta de Población Activa (EPA) del INE también confirma esta tendencia a acortar distancias entre hombres y mujeres en puestos de dirección y responsabilidad. No obstante, esta tendencia positiva no es igual en los diferentes ámbitos: el crecimiento de la participación de la mujer en cargos directivos y de gestión en las instituciones sanitarias parece haber crecido poco, a pesar de la feminización de la profesión médica (Arrizabalaga y VallsLlobet, 2005;Reed et al, 2001, Reed, 2001.…”

Section: Algunas Explicaciones Teóricas Para Las Diferencias De Génerunclassified

“…Finalmente, una parte de la literatura apunta que las exigencias a las que están sometidas las mujeres hacen que éstas terminen por disminuir su rendimiento y, probablemente, su éxito en la trayectoria laboral. Todas estas variables interactúan obstaculizando la promoción jerárquica entre las médicas (Reed et al, 2001). No obstante, hay que analizar con cuidado aquella variable que está relacionada con las exigencias y con las dinámicas dentro de las instituciones sanitarias y, en particular, de los hospitales.…”

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Mujeres en sanidad: entre la igualdad y la desigualdad

2012

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This paper aims to analyze the obstacles that female doctors should fight along their career. We affirm that the process of feminization of professions like Medicine does not result in an improvement for women professional careers. We also affirm that leadership positions are not distributed proportionately between men and women. The increase of women among Medicine students, residents and doctors is not accompanied by a proportional growth of women in management and leadership positions in hospitals, but there is a low representation of women in top positions. We also point that medical practice is not unrelated to gender discrimination existing in our society but, unlike the widespread view, is a reflection Keywords: gender, hospitals, organizations, inequalities, professional career Women in the health profession: between equality and inequalities RESUMEN Este artículo da cuenta de los obstáculos que las mujeres médicas deben combatir a lo largo de su trayectoria profesional. Mantenemos que los procesos de feminización de profesiones como la medicina no están dando como resultado una mejora en las trayectorias profesionales de las mujeres, en relación con su formación académica, y que los puestos de responsabilidad no están distribuidos de manera proporcional entre hombres y mujeres. El aumento de las estudiantes de medicina, de las residentes y de las médicas facultativas no está acompañado de un crecimiento proporcional de las profesionales en puestos de gestión y dirección en los hospitales, sino que existe una escasa representación de las mujeres en los altos cargos.

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Career obstacles for women in medicine: an overview

Cited by 133 publications

References 51 publications

Factors Influencing Choice of Medical Specialty of Preresidency Medical Graduates in Southeastern Nigeria

Factors Influencing Choice of Medical Specialty of Preresidency Medical Graduates in Southeastern Nigeria

From calling to a scheduled vocation: Swedish male and female students’ reflections on being a doctor

Mujeres en sanidad: entre la igualdad y la desigualdad

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