‘So you row, do you? You don’t look like a rower.' An account of medical students' experience of sexism

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Medicine has traditionally been considered a masculine pursuit and its undergraduate curriculum criticised as being inherently sexist. Overt sexism, though diminished, still occurs and students report offensive sexual remarks, unwanted sexual advances and unequal learning opportunities. Sexual discrimination also colludes with attitudes that promote the stereotyping of the roles of women both in medicine and in society itself. This study aimed to ascertain medical students' own experience of sexism during undergraduate training, their understanding of these events, what effects the events had on them and, specifically, how they coped. METHODS: Twelve in-depth interviews, each focusing on a critical incident, with individual self-selecting Year 5 medical students took place. Initial qualitative analysis of transcripts produced themes that were further subsetted. RESULTS: Students described situations where they felt their learning had been jeopardised. Male students reported frequent difficulties whilst attached to obstetric and gynaecology firms. Students commented that their gender did sometimes affect their relationships with teaching staff and that affirmation from their teachers was important. Female students coped well with their experiences of sexism, often supporting each other. Male students often felt resigned to being excluded from certain learning opportunities and this sometimes resulted in unresolved frustration. CONCLUSIONS: Developing a non-sexist undergraduate curriculum should be prioritised. Encouraging teaching staff to reflect on their attitudes to gender, approaches to teaching and providing support, such as mentoring, especially for female students frequently lacking appropriate role models, is advised.

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