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Undergraduates' learning profile development: what is happening to the men?
1Department of Physiotherapy, Cardiff University, Wales, UK. Kell@cardiff.ac.uk
Medical Teacher
|April 22, 2006
Summary
The undergraduate physiotherapy curriculum negatively impacted mature male students' development of autonomous professional skills. This study highlights potential gender bias in higher education, urging curriculum review for equitable learning outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Higher Education Pedagogy
- Health Professions Education
- Gender Studies in Academia
Background:
- UK Higher Education Institutions are tasked with producing autonomous healthcare professionals.
- Autonomous professionals require specific learning skills, including self-directed learning, academic self-efficacy, locus of control, and self-concept.
- Widening access initiatives have increased mature and male student enrollment in undergraduate healthcare programs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To track learning profile changes in mature physiotherapy students (male and female) over a three-year undergraduate program.
- To compare the development of autonomous professional attributes between mature male and female physiotherapy students.
- To investigate potential curricular influences, including gender bias, on student learning profiles.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of two BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy cohorts.
- Utilized self-rated inventories to map changes in learning profile skills and attributes over time.
- Compared learning profile development and cumulative assessment scores between mature male and female students.
Main Results:
- The 1997 undergraduate curriculum negatively affected mature male students' learning profile development.
- Mature male students showed a significant decline in key attributes, exhibiting a profile opposite to that of an autonomous professional by graduation.
- Mature male students achieved significantly lower cumulative assessment scores compared to their mature female peers.
Conclusions:
- The study suggests potential unintentional gender bias within the curriculum and assessment design, possibly influenced by female dominance in academic and clinical settings.
- Curricular adjustments for the 2002 program are discussed in light of these findings.
- It is recommended that physiotherapy programs, especially those widening access to mature and male students, address potential curricular gender bias.
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