Impact of gender on dental state licensure examination performance

The purpose of this study was to identify performance differences in subgroups of dental students during dental school and on state dental licensure examinations. One of the specific aims was to determine if gender is predictive of performance in dental school and on state licensure examinations. The study consisted of a retrospective analysis of 416 graduates (136 females and 280 males) from the University of Florida College of Dentistry (UFCD) between 1996 and 2003. Four categories of variables were assessed: academic measures, clinical productivity measures, performance on a senior mock board examination, and performance on the state licensure examination. The academic measures consisted of the Dental Admission Test (DAT) academic average, DAT Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), and dental school entering and graduating grade point average (GPA). Based on univariate analyses, males had significantly higher DAT academic averages and PAT scores than females. More importantly, males had significantly higher state board clinical scores. Using stepwise regression and the maximum R2 procedure, factors most predictive for the performance on the state licensure clinical exam were the PAT, numbers of amalgams completed, and the UFCD senior mock board clinical score. Each factor was highly significant (p<0.001). After controlling for these three factors, the difference in genders was no longer statistically significant. With increasing enrollment of females in dental schools, it is important to periodically assess student performance to determine whether instructional modifications are needed to accommodate gender differences. Due to consistency of our findings with similar recent reports, it might be reasonable to think the gender gap is narrowing. Additional studies from other regions would provide support for this concept.