Gender Bias and Stereotypes in Medicine: A Medical Student Experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.1200Keywords:
gender bias, stereotypes, medical studentsAbstract
Gender bias is a universal phenomenon that is strongly embedded in human society. Its omnipresence originates consequences that have a lasting structural impact. Despite social, scientific, and cultural changes, gender discrimination remains prevalent in the twenty-first century. In this paper, we describe a situation in which a medical student was discouraged by a professor when she expressed the professional path she intended to pursue in the future just because of her gender. In addition, we discuss possible solutions such as raising awareness, developing educational programs, increasing women representation, and addressing everyone’s needs. It is imperative that we, as a society, educate ourselves in identifying stereotypes and gender-biased situations to eliminate gender discrimination in science and in our systems.
Metrics
References
Perez CC. Invisible women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. Random House, 2019.
Rotenstein LS, Jena AB. Lost Taussigs - The Consequences of Gender Discrimination in Medicine. N Engl J Med. 2018 Jun 14;378(24):2255-2257.
Charyton C, Elliott JO, Rahman MA, Woodard JL, Dedios S. Gender and science: Women Nobel laureates. J Creat Behav. 2011 Dec 22;45(3): 203-214.
Schiebinger L. The mind has no sex?. Women in the origins of modern science. Harvard University Press, 1991.
Stone L, Phillips C, Douglas KA. With the best will in the world: How benevolent sexism shapes medical careers. Med Educ. 2020 Feb;54(2):94-97.
Liakos M, Parikh PB. Gender Disparities in Presentation, Management, and Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2018 Jun 16;20(8):64
Nebel RA Aggarwal NT, Barnes LL, Gallagher A, Goldstein JM, Kantarci K, et al. Understanding the impact of sex and gender in Alzheimer's disease: A call to action. Alzheimers Dement. 2018 Sep;14(9):1171-1183.
Peterson NB, Friedman RH, Ash AS, Franco S, Carr PL. Faculty self-reported experience with racial and ethnic discrimination in academic medicine. J Gen Intern Med. 2004 Mar;19(3):259-65.
Ko M and Dorri A. Primary care clinician and clinic director experiences of professional bias, harassment, and discrimination in an underserved agricultural region of California. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Oct 2;2(10):e1913535.
Lu DW, Pierce A, Jauregui J, Heron S, Lall MD, Mitzman J, et al. Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty Experiences with Racial and Sexual Orientation Discrimination. West J Emerg Med. 2020 Aug 21;21(5):1160-1169.
Morgan AU, Chaiyachati KH, Weissman GE, Liao JM. Eliminating Gender-Based Bias in Academic Medicine: More Than Naming the "Elephant in the Room". J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Jun;33(6):966-968.
Amir A, Subhi Y, Ringsted C, Konge L, et al. Gender differences in the acquisition of surgical skills: a systematic review. Surg Endosc. 2015 Nov;29(11):3065-73.
Published
Versions
- 2022-01-06 (3)
- 2021-12-16 (2)
- 2021-12-16 (1)
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Sofia Jezzini-Martinez, Daniela Cecilia Gonzalez-Cruz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site; with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from the Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Enforcement of copyright
The IJMS takes the protection of copyright very seriously.
If the IJMS discovers that you have used its copyright materials in contravention of the license above, the IJMS may bring legal proceedings against you seeking reparation and an injunction to stop you using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.
If you become aware of any use of the IJMS' copyright materials that contravenes or may contravene the license above, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org
Infringing material
If you become aware of any material on the website that you believe infringes your or any other person's copyright, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org