Choosing dentistry as a career--Part I: A comparison of student motives.
The race/gender composition of first year dental students at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg has changed over the years. Classes were previously characterised by a predominance of white males, but the race/gender distribution at present reflects a predominance of black students and a significant increase in female students. This may indicate that the motives for choosing dentistry as a career have changed and this possibility was explored in two classes of first year students, those of 1985 and 1990. The black/white and male/female distributions were 29/71 and 85/15 per cent in 1985 and 52.5/47.5 and 57/43 per cent respectively, for the class of 1990. Despite race and gender differences, motives for choosing dentistry appeared to relate to an image of the profession that is perceived as a vehicle for the achievement of personal goals.
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Department of Community Dentistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003816:Dentists, Women / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D044469:Racial Groups; D012938:Social Perception; D013019:South Africa; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires