Gender similarities in doctors' preferences--and gender differences in final specialisation

Area of Science:

• Medical Sociology
• Health Workforce Research
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• The underrepresentation of women in certain medical specialities, such as surgery, has been attributed to gender differences in career choice.
• Previous research suggests potential biases or differing interests as reasons for this disparity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate gender differences and similarities in recruitment to and transitions between medical specialities among Norwegian doctors.
• To analyze factors influencing the completion of specialist training, particularly in male-dominated fields.

Main Methods:

• A career history study utilizing a questionnaire distributed to Norwegian doctors authorized between 1980-1983.
• Descriptive statistics and logistic regression for analyzing specialist training completion.
• Survival analysis for examining transitions between medical specialities.

Main Results:

• Women were equally likely as men to begin careers in surgery and internal medicine, contradicting the notion of lower interest.
• A significantly higher proportion of men than women completed specialist training in surgery.
• Workload, on-call duties, and challenges in combining childcare with hospital careers contributed to women changing specialities.

Conclusions:

• The low proportion of women in some surgical fields is not due to lack of initial interest but rather difficulties in completing specialist training.
• While work-life balance issues are significant, they may not fully explain the attrition of women from surgery, suggesting other potential "closure mechanisms" require further investigation.