Exploring gender influences in the quality of workplace-based assessments

Workplace-based assessments are an important tool for trainee feedback and as a means of reporting expert judgments of trainee competence in the workplace. However, the literature has demonstrated that gender bias can exist within these assessments. We aimed to determine whether gender differences in the quality of workplace-based assessment data exist in our residency training program.

This study was conducted at the University of Ottawa in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Four end-of-shift workplace-based assessments completed by men faculty and four completed by women faculty were randomly selected for each resident during the 2018-2019 academic year. Two blinded raters scored each workplace-based assessment using the Completed Clinical Evaluation Report Rating (CCERR), a published nine-item quantitative measure of workplace-based assessment quality. A 2 × 2 mixed measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) of resident gender and faculty gender was conducted, with mean CCERR score as the dependent variable. The ANOVA was repeated with mean workplace-based assessment rating as the dependent variable.

A total of 363 workplace-based assessments were analyzed for 46 residents. There were no significant effects of faculty or resident gender on the quality of workplace-based assessments (p = 0.30). There was no difference in mean workplace-based assessment ratings between women and men residents (p = 0.92), and no interaction between resident and faculty gender (p = 0.62). Mean CCERR score was 25.8, SD = 4.2, indicating average quality assessments.

We did not find faculty or resident gender differences in the quality of workplace-based assessments completed in our training program. While the literature has previously demonstrated gender bias in trainee assessments, our results are not surprising as assessment culture varies by institution and program. Our study cautions against generalizing gender bias across contexts, and offers an approach that educators can use to evaluate whether gender bias in the quality of trainee assessments exists within their program.