Career Decisions of Undergraduate Dental Students at the University of Science and Technology, Yemen

Abstract

Students’ reasons for choosing dentistry as a profession have not been well documented, especially in the developing countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the reasons why undergraduate Yemeni dental students who attended the University of Science and Technology (UST) chose dentistry as a career. A total of 300 out of 500 responses were recorded for this study, a response rate of 60 percent. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to dental students at UST, and a chi‐square test was used for statistical analysis of the data. The results showed that students chose dentistry as a career for the following reasons: economic (easy to find jobs, 44.7 percent); vocational (I like to treat people to improve their health, 39.0 percent); personal (my family dentist's encouragement, 37.3 percent); and professional (I can work in many fields, 33.0 percent). When group and item scores were compared between genders, statistically significant differences were only found for vocational reasons (p<0.05). In conclusion, the reasons Yemeni dental students chose dentistry as a profession were primarily economic, then vocational. However, vocational reasons were found to be the significant factors for choosing dentistry as a career by both genders in this group of UST Yemeni dental students.

Motivation and Career Perceptions of Dental Students at the School of Dental Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia

“…Kao što je prikazano, postoji golema razlika između broja studenata i studentica -s muško-ženskim omjerom 1:4. Feminizacija stomatologije uočena je i u drugim zemljama (9,11,14,15). Kao jedan od najvažnijih motivacijskih čimbenika sudionice su izdvojile pomaganje ljudima, što se slaže s rezultatima istraživanja provedenog na nekoliko javnih fakulteta stomatologije u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama (10).…”

“…Dobre mogućnosti za zapošljavanje u mnogim su državama visoko postavljene na listi motivacijskih čimbenika (1,9). U nekima je to realnost, ali u zemljama poput Hrvatske to je nažalost samo mit, posebno u kombinaciji s očekivanjem visoke plaće.…”

“…Pomaganje drugima i ekonomski razlozi, drugi je najčešći odgovor. Istraživanje provedeno na Sveučilištu znanosti i tehnologije u Jemenu pokazalo je da studenti daju prednost ekonomskim razlozima (9). Gotovo 50 posto njih smatra da će lako pronaći posao u stomatološkoj struci nakon završetka studija.…”

“…Studentima je bilo ponuđeno 10 odgo-mon answers. In a study which was carried out in University of Science and Technology, Yemen, it was shown that students gave preference to economic reasons (9). Almost 50% of Yemen students assumed that it is easy to find a job in dentistry.…”

The Career Choice, Motivation and Future Expectations of Dental Students: A Mixed Method Analysis

“…In the Middle East, the same region of this study, females in a Yemeni study indicated that they would choose dentistry because in this sector jobs were readily available, also citing the desire to improve the health of individuals and the community [9]; Jordanian women had similar desires namely "helping people" as the highest-rated reason [10].…”