Undermining Confidence: Examining Trainees' Perspectives on Confidence in General Surgery

General surgeons need confidence to operate in high-pressure settings, and so it is an important trait to cultivate in residency. Previous studies have characterized factors that influence trainee confidence without clearly defining what it is or how it may interact with gendered social norms. The study's aim was to examine perspectives on confidence and define the relationship between confidence and gender among trainees in general surgery.

This qualitative study utilized an anonymous online survey followed by semi-structured interviews to elicit participants' perspectives. While our intent had been to correlate data from both methods, not all who participated in the survey completed an interview and vice versa. As the narrative data was better suited to the study's objective, that is what we present here. Interview responses were analyzed using a grounded theory approach with iterative thematic coding and identification of illustrative data extracts. Surveys and interviews were completed between February and March 2023.

The study was conducted at a single academic medical center.

Participants were recruited through purposive sampling of all general surgery residents and 3rd or 4th year medical students who had completed general surgery clerkships.

Of 27 participants (20 medical students - 8 planning to pursue surgical residency - and 7 general surgery residents) interviewed, 19 identified as female and 8 as male. Nineteen participants were White. Three themes emerged from interviews: (1) definitions of confidence are variable, not exclusively positive, and associated with certain gendered behaviors; (2) women and non-White trainees disproportionately incur social costs to enacting confidence; and (3) gender stereotypes continue to undermine trainee confidence.

Perceptions of confidence are manifold and difficult to unravel from cultural attitudes. As such, we advise against using perceived confidence as a metric in trainee evaluation and instead encourage open dialogue among trainees and faculty about the impact of intersectional identities on confidence.