Abstract
Over the last decade, a significant change in medical school applications has occurred, with more than 50 % of applicants being female. Despite the significant increase in the number of women entering the medical profession, there is evidence that a gendered hierarchy persists. Female medical students are more likely than their male colleagues to enter and practice in less prestigious medical specializations and are less likely to enter more prestigious fields such as surgery. This paper assesses two competing explanations for female medical students’ specialty choices. Does women’s choice appear to reflect their preference for family and their gender role socialization; or rather the structural barriers and constraints that women still experience in male-dominant fields? Drawing from qualitative data collected from 15 female medical students and residents in Ontario, Canada—this study explores whether Canadian female students and residents anticipate having a difficult time combining career and family life, and how these expectations shape their specialty choice. The findings suggest that structural barriers within the medical field deter women from pursuing certain specializations.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
According to Davis and Allison [13], “prestigious specialties” in the field of medicine refers to a specialty which “requires the longest time commitment beyond medical school”, such as surgery (Page 18).
References
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organization. Gender and Society, 4(2), 139–158.
Apter, T. E. (1995). Working women don’t have wives: Professional success in the 1990s. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin.
Babaria, P., Abedin, S., Berg, D., & Nunez-Smith, M. (2012). “I’m too used to it”: A longitudinal qualitative study of third year female medical students’ experiences of gendered encounters in medical education. Social Science and Medicine, 74(7), 1013–1020.
Baxter, N., Cohen, R., & McLeod, R. (1996). The impact of gender on the choice of surgery as a career. American Journal of Surgery, 172(4), 373–376.
Becker, H. S. (1961). Boys in white: Student culture in medical school. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Blanch, D. C., Hall, J. A., Roter, D. L., & Frankel, R. M. (2008). Medical student gender and issues of confidence. Patient Education and Counseling, 72(3), 374–381.
Brown, A. J., Swinyard, W., & Ogle, J. (2003). Women in academic medicine: A report of focus groups and questionnaires, with conjoint analysis. Journal of Women’s Health, 12(10), 999–1008.
Burgess, D. J., Joseph, A., Van Ryn, M., & Carnes, M. (2012). Does stereotype threat affect women in academic medicine? Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 87(4), 506–512.
Carr, P. L., Gunn, C. M., Kaplan, S. A., Raj, A., & Freund, K. M. (2015). Inadequate progress for women in academic medicine: Findings from the national faculty study. Journal of Women’s Health, 24(3), 190–199.
Cassell, J. (1997). Doing gender, doing surgery: Women surgeons in a man’s profession. Human Organization, 56(1), 47–52.
Cochran, A., & Neumayer, L. A. (2011). Invited editorial: Breaking down the walls. Removing structural barriers for women in academic surgery. The American Surgeon, 77(11), 1437.
Davis, G., & Allison, R. (2013). Increasing representation, maintaining hierarchy: An assessment of gender and medical specialization. Social Thought and Research, 32(17), 17–45.
Gibis, B., Heinz, A., Jacob, R., & Müller, C. (2012). The career expectations of medical students: Findings of a nationwide survey in Germany. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 109(18), 327.
Heru, A. M. (2005). Pink-collar medicine: Women and the future of medicine. Gender Issues, 22(1), 20–34.
Hinze, S. W. (2004). ‘Am I being over-sensitive?’ Women’s experience of sexual harassment during medical training. Health, 8(1), 101–127.
Jackson, I., Bobbin, M., Jordan, M., & Baker, S. (2009). A survey of women urology residents regarding career choice and practice challenges. Journal of Women’s Health, 18(11), 1867–1872.
Leong, F. T. L., Hardin, E. E., & Gaylor, M. (2005). Career specialty choice: A combined research-intervention project. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67(1), 69–86.
Matulewicz, K. (2010). Frivolous fear over feminized medical schools: Why affirmative action for men is not justified. Canadian Review of Social Policy, 63/64, 116–124.
Pierce, J. (1995). Gender trials: Emotional lives in contemporary law firms. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
Porucznik, M. (2008). Where are the women orthopaedists? AAOS now: American academy of orthopaedic surgeons. February 2008 Issue. http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/feb08/cover2.asp. Accessed September 23 2014.
Riska, E. (2011). Gender and medical careers. Maturitas, 68(3), 264–267.
Roubidoux, M. A., Packer, M. M., Applegate, K. E., & Aben, G. (2009). Female medical students’ interest in radiology careers. Journal of the American College of Radiology: JACR, 6(4), 246–253.
Seemann, N. M., Webster, F., Holden, H. A., Carol-anne, E. M., Baxter, N., Desjardins, C., & Cil, T. (2016). Women in academic surgery: Why is the playing field still not level? The American Journal of Surgery, 211(2), 343–349.
Sexton, K. W., Hocking, K. M., Wise, E., Osgood, M. J., Cheung-Flynn, J., Komalavilas, P., & Brophy, C. M. (2012). Women in academic surgery: The pipeline is busted. Journal of Surgical Education, 69(1), 84–90.
Zhuge, Y., Kaufman, J., Simeone, D. M., Chen, H., & Velazquez, O. C. (2011). Is there still a glass ceiling for women in academic surgery? Annals of Surgery, 253(4), 637–643.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kwon, E. “For Passion or for Future Family?” Exploring Factors Influencing Career and Family Choices of Female Medical Students and Residents. Gend. Issues 34, 186–200 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-016-9168-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-016-9168-3