Gender differences in motives and career choice of medical students.

Introduction: Insight in the choices of medical students concerning their future career is an actual issue, since the population is changing towards a majority of female students. We focus here on insight in the effect of gender and life-stage on students’ preferences concerning a medical specialty, and concerning flexible working hours. In addition, this study examines the influence of gender and life-stage on motives that direct career choices. On the one hand we relate to extrinsic or instrumental motives and on the other hand intrinsic motives, focused on relational aspects. It can be expected that these motives are mediating the relation between gender and life-stage on the one hand, and future specialty on the other. Method: An online survey was used to gather career preferences of medical students at all Dutch medical universities. Possible preferences for medical specialties were general practitioner and medical specialist, and, in reference to the latter, a surgery or a non-surgery specialty. The measure of life-stage consists of the variables study stage (junior and senior students) and living with a partner or not. Motives were measured in terms of extrinsic motives, like salary, status or living-situation, next to intrinsic motives, concerning relational aspects, like curing people. Results: The results present that men aspire a more instrumental medical specialty and handle more instrumental motives then women. Opposite to expectations, study stage did not predict differences in motives or career preferences. A part-time preference was larger for senior students then junior students, and especially women preferred working part-time. Furthermore, it was found that students living with a partner have other preferences in specialty choice then students living apart. Additionally, students living with a partner have a higher preference for part-time work. Finally, motives are partly mediating the relation between gender and living together on the one hand, and preferred specialty on the other hand. Conclusions: The gender shift in the medical workforce is not automatically followed by a gender shift in career motives and specialty choices. This implies that policy measures are necessary to direct the influx in typical male oriented specialties. (aut. ref.)