Learning about gender on campus: an analysis of the hidden curriculum for medical students

Cheng, Ling-Fang; Yang, Hsing-Chen

doi:10.1111/medu.12628

Cited by 72 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This trend parallels previously reported gender disparities in self-esteem and self-assessment: male medical students overestimate competence and endorse greater self-esteem, while female medical students underestimate performance and report less self-esteem [15,16]. This discrepancy may also reflect the social privilege of male identity in the heteronormative, pro-masculine culture documented in medical education [17,18]. Socially privileged groups exhibit greater implicit bias than marginalized groups [19], potentially inhibiting appropriate recognition of SGM health needs and motivation to develop SGM health knowledge and skills.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Sexual and gender minority health in medical curricula in new England: a pilot study of medical student comfort, competence and perception of curricula

Zelin

Hastings

Beaulieu‐Jones

et al. 2018

Medical Education Online

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Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience high rates of harassment and discrimination when seeking healthcare, which contributes to substantial healthcare disparities. Improving physician training about gender identity, sexual orientation, and the healthcare needs of SGM patients has been identified as a critical strategy for mitigating these disparities. In 2014, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) published medical education competencies to guide undergraduate medical education on SGM topics.Objective: Conduct pilot study to investigate medical student comfort and competence about SGM health competencies outlined by the AAMC and evaluate curricular coverage of SGM topics.Design: Six-hundred and fifty-eight students at New England allopathic medical schools (response rate 21.2%) completed an anonymous, online survey evaluating self-reported comfort and competence regarding SGM health competencies, and coverage of SGM health in the medical curriculum.Results: 92.7% of students felt somewhat or very comfortable treating sexual minorities; 68.4% felt comfortable treating gender minorities. Most respondents felt not competent or somewhat not competent with medical treatment of gender minority patients (76.7%) and patients with a difference of sex development (81%). At seven schools, more than 50% of students indicated that the curriculum neither adequately covers SGM-specific topics nor adequately prepares students to serve SGM patients.Conclusions: The prevalence of self-reported comfort is greater than that of self-reported competence serving SGM patients in a convenience sample of New England allopathic medical students. The majority of participants reported insufficient curricular preparation to achieve the competencies necessary to care for SGM patients. This multi-institution pilot study provides preliminary evidence that further curriculum development may be needed to enable medical students to achieve core competencies in SGM health, as defined by AAMC. Further mixed methods research is necessary to substantiate and expand upon the findings of this pilot study. This pilot study also demonstrates the importance of creating specific evaluation tools to assess medical student achievement of competencies established by the AAMC.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Sexual and gender minority health in medical curricula in new England: a pilot study of medical student comfort, competence and perception of curricula

Zelin

Hastings

Beaulieu‐Jones

et al. 2018

Medical Education Online

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“…The female students’ experiences of warnings against unsuitable and physically demanding specialties, and compliments about their appearance, reflect such prejudices. That sexism can be expressed not only through hostile comments but also through paternalistic protection was also recently shown in a study among medical students in Taiwan [37]. The fact that the women in our study were viewed as insecure but responsible and hard working meant that their achievements risked being seen more as an outcome of diligent efforts than being the result of their intelligence and aptitude for medical work.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Experiences of the gender climate in clinical training – a focus group study among Swedish medical students

et al. 2016

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BackgroundResearch shows that medical education is characterized by unequal conditions for women and men, but there is a lack of qualitative studies investigating the social processes that enable and maintain gender inequalities that include both male and female students. In this focus group study, we therefore explored male as well as female medical students’ experiences of the gender climate – i.e., how beliefs, values, and norms about gender were communicated – during clinical training and how the students dealt with these experiences.MethodsFocus group interviews were conducted with 24 medical students (nine men) at Umeå University, Sweden. The interviews were structured around personal experiences in clinical training where the participants perceived that gender had mattered. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe students described gender-stereotyped expectations, discriminatory treatment, compliments, comments, and demeaning jargon. Female students gave more personal and varied examples than the men. The students’ ways of handling their experiences were marked by efforts to fit in, for example, by adapting their appearance and partaking in the prevailing jargon. They felt dependent on supervisors and staff, and due to fear of repercussions they kept silent and avoided unpleasant situations and people rather than challenging humiliating jargon or supervisors who were behaving badly.ConclusionsEveryday communication of gender beliefs combined with students’ adaptation to stereotyped expectations and discrimination came across as fundamental features through which unequal conditions for male and female students are reproduced and maintained in the clinic. Because they are in a dependent position, it is often difficult for students to challenge problematic gender attitudes. The main responsibility for improvements, therefore, lies with medical school leadership who need to provide students and supervisors with knowledge about gendered processes, discrimination, and sexism and to organize reflection groups about the gender climate in order to improve students’ opportunities to discuss their experiences, and hopefully find ways to protest and actively demand change.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0803-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…In a ten year study of attitudes among medical students, Cheng & Fang (2015) define five distinctive characteristics: gender stereotypes of physiological knowledge; biased treatment of women; stereotyped division of labour based on gender; sexual harassment and a hostile environment, and ridiculing lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT).…”

Section: Theoretical Justificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eradicating violence against women is a long and complicated task and we cannot afford to turn back. For further progress, it is necessary to improve measures that have made progress possible, remove the remaining obstacles and reinforce and generalise best practices, although we can appreciate in several studies (Cheng and Fang, 2015;Romera, 2015;Löckenhoff, 2014;Asian-Chaves, 2015) that gender stereotypes condition how university students act.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Stereotypes within the University. Does Sexism Determine the Choice of Degree amongst University Students?

León-Ramírez

Sanvicén-Torné

Molina‐Luque

2018

RES

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Nowadays gender-based violence has not only grown but it has become increasingly evident in (Expósito, Moya and Glick, 1998 and the Dating Violence Questionnaire by Rodríguez-Franco et al., 2007) RESUMENEn la actualidad la violencia de género, no solo va en aumento, sino que es más evidente en relación con los estereotipos de género en las personas jóvenes. La educación transversal es necesaria para poder erradicar dichos estereotipos de aulas universitarias. Nuestro objetivo es conocer si existe relación entre sexismo y la elección de la carrera entre los universitarios y si existe relación con la cultura. Para ello utilizamos el Inventario de Sexismo Ambivalente (Expósito, Moya y Glick, 1998) y Cuestionario de Violencia entre novios (Rodríguez-Franco et al., 2007) a 1196 universitarios. Los resultados evidencian que existe relación con el sexismo y carrera elegida y, mayor sexismo en carreras técnicas que en las de humanidades. La ideología cultural es similar entre México y Cataluña y variable en la intensidad en todas las mediciones. Se concluye que es muy necesaria la educación sobre la igualdad como materia transversal en carreras técnicas. Palabras clave: Sexismo ambivalente; estereotipos de género; elección de carrera; socialización; universitarios. Artículos / ArticlesGender Stereotypes within the University. Does Sexism Determine the Choice of Degree amongst University Students? / Los estereotipos de género en la Universidad. ¿Es determinante el sexismo en la elección de la carrera a estudiar?

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Learning about gender on campus: an analysis of the hidden curriculum for medical students

Cited by 72 publications

References 18 publications

Sexual and gender minority health in medical curricula in new England: a pilot study of medical student comfort, competence and perception of curricula

Sexual and gender minority health in medical curricula in new England: a pilot study of medical student comfort, competence and perception of curricula

Experiences of the gender climate in clinical training – a focus group study among Swedish medical students

Gender Stereotypes within the University. Does Sexism Determine the Choice of Degree amongst University Students?

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