Gender differences and similarities in medical students’ experiences of mistreatment by various groups of perpetrators

Siller, Heidi; Tauber, Gloria; Komlenac, Nikola; Hochleitner, Margarethe

doi:10.1186/s12909-017-0974-4

Cited by 38 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(62 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, the context of those experiences is often the clinical environment, which can be hard for universities to monitor and change. Efforts by universities to detect gender discrimination with the currently used instruments such as course evaluations might not be adequate as underreporting is a known problem [ 43 – 45 ], and response rates are usually low. Recurrent mistreatment of medical students by faculty staff was showed to be of the driving forces of burnout, and psychiatric disorders [ 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical students’ self-reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment over time

et al. 2020

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Background Gender discrimination (GD) and sexual harassment (SH) occur at all academic institutions worldwide. Medical students report high prevalence of GD and SH, which may negatively affect their education and health. There are indications that policies and reforms on reducing GD/SH are insufficient. Swedish medical students’ experiences of GD/SH are monitored by course-evaluations and bi-annual student union evaluations; however, the response rate is usually low. The aim of this study was to compare the exposure to and context of self-reported GD/SH over an 11-year period amongst medical students at a Swedish university. Methods In 2002, a questionnaire (n = 622) was mailed to medical students’ home addresses. It was repeated in 2013 and then distributed during mandatory lectures (n = 856). The questions used a behavioristic approach and asked about specific GH/SH experiences. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The changes in prevalence over time were calculated by sampling weights in order to obtain comparable estimates, representative of both cohorts. Results The response frequency was 55% (62% women) in 2002 and 81% (59% women) in 2013. The prevalence of GD tended to decrease for male and clinical students in comparison to female and pre-clinical peers. However, the prevalence of SH increased for female compared to male students. The ratio of SH for female pre-clinical students doubled in many instances; most often, the mistreatment occurred in the clinic. Medical doctors were indicated as perpetrators up to five times more often by all students in 2013. Conclusion Our results show a disproportional change in exposure to GD/SH between female and male medical students, resulting in a widening of the gender gap regarding prevalence of GD and SH between 2002 and 2013. In particular, personal experiences of SH increased for both sexes. It is proof that institutional efforts to fight mistreatment might be ineffective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical students’ self-reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment over time

et al. 2020

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“…This blind spot suggests that sexism in German medical education does not exist. However, reports from different countries illustrate that sexual harassment in medicine is a global and multifaceted problem: in addition to other forms of ostracism, there is a high prevalence of sexual discrimination in medical education that affects women at a higher rate than men [4,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. In their metaanalysis, Fnais et al [23] uncovered that, on average, 54% of those surveyed reported experiences of sexual discrimination within the scope of their medical education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical students’ experiences with sexual discrimination and perceptions of equal opportunity: a pilot study in Germany

Jendretzky¹,

Boll²,

Steffens³

et al. 2020

BMC Med Educ

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Background: Data is available on sexual discrimination and subjective perceptions of equal opportunity in medical education for many countries. Surveys focussing on sexual harassment have not yet been conducted at German medical schools. Methods: A student initiative surveyed all medical students at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) using an anonymous online questionnaire on equal opportunity and sexual discrimination to identify potential problems in education. Results: A total of 343 students (15%) participated in the survey. Over 50% reported having either witnessed sexual harassment or experienced it themselves. Female students indicated having experienced sexual harassment three times more often than their male peers; verbal forms of sexual discrimination predominate. These observations and experiences of sexual harassment demonstrated significant influences on many perceptions regarding equal opportunity and equal treatment in the MHH undergraduate medical education at MHH. Conclusion: This blind spot in medical education in the German-speaking countries should be scrutinized more closely. The experience of sexism in the context of undergraduate medical education, which has negative effects on students, should no longer be ignored in empirical education research.

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“…Moreover, the context of those experiences is often the clinical environment, which can be hard for universities to monitor and change. Efforts by universities to detect gender discrimination with the currently used instruments such as course evaluations might not be adequate as underreporting is a known problem [41][42][43], and response rates are usually low. As the epidemic of burnout among female medical doctors and students, for example, in Sweden, is a fact [44], we hypothesize that GD/SH experienced during medical education maybe one of the driving forces.…”

Section: Study Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical students’ self-reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment over time

Kisiel

Kühner

Stolare

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundGender discrimination (GD) and sexual harassment (SH) occur at all academic institutions worldwide. Medical students seem particularly affected, which may negatively affect their education and health. There are indications that policies and reforms on reducing GD/SH are insufficient. Swedish medical students’ experiences of GD/SH are monitored by course-evaluations and bi-annual student union evaluations; however, the response rate is usually low. The aim of this study was to compare the exposure to and context of self-reported GD/SH over an 11-year period amongst medical students at a Swedish university.MethodsIn 2002, a questionnaire (n=622) was mailed to medical students’ home addresses. It was repeated in 2013 and then distributed during mandatory lectures (n=856). The questions used a behavioristic approach and asked about specific GH/SH experiences. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The changes in prevalence over time were calculated by sampling weights in order to obtain comparable estimates, representative of both cohorts.ResultsThe response frequency was 55% (62% women) in 2002 and 81% (59% women) in 2013. The prevalence of GD tended to decrease for male and clinical students in comparison to female and pre-clinical peers. However, the prevalence of SH increased for female compared to male students. The ratio of SH for female pre-clinical students doubled in many instances; most often, the mistreatment occurred in the clinic. Medical doctors were indicated as perpetrators up to five times more often by all students in 2013.ConclusionOur results show a disproportional change in exposure to GD/SH between female and male medical students, resulting in a widening of the gender gap regarding prevalence of GD and SH between 2002 and 2013. In particular, personal experiences of SH increased for both sexes. It is proof that institutional efforts to fight mistreatment might be ineffective.

show abstract

Gender differences and similarities in medical students’ experiences of mistreatment by various groups of perpetrators

Cited by 38 publications

References 40 publications

Medical students’ self-reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment over time

Medical students’ self-reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment over time

Medical students’ experiences with sexual discrimination and perceptions of equal opportunity: a pilot study in Germany

Medical students’ self-reported gender discrimination and sexual harassment over time

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