Female and male medical students: differences in specialty choice selection and personality

Sex differences in specialty choices, specialty beliefs, and personality characteristics of female and male medical students were analyzed. Subjects included 95 female and 166 male medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Results from a personality measure, the Adjective Check List, and from measures of students' beliefs as to status, similarity-to-self, and social desirability of various specialties revealed significant differences between men and women on specialty choice, ratings of status and social attractiveness of the specialties, and personality characteristics. It appears that for female medical students specialty choices and general personality characteristics have changed to less traditional and stereotypic positions in the past few years.