Career development of female and male physicians

In this article, the authors compare the career development of female and male physicians who were graduated from medical school in 1960 and followed through 1976. Working with a sample matched for type and location of medical school and admission test scores, the authors analyzed the effects of achievement motivation, performance in medical school, peer evaluation, prestige of internship hospital, and family responsibilities on professional attainment. The findings indicate that the careers of male physicians build in a sustained way, with the input factors during and following medical school remaining consistent in their effects; in the careers of female physicians, factors crosscut each other, with some being positive and some negative in their effect on professional attainment. Family responsibility is not the only negative factor for women, and this indicates that other elements in career development that help men do not similarly contribute to the advancement of women physicians. A strong positive factor for women is prestige of internship hospital.