title: Does students' exposure to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in medical school affect specialty choice and residency program selection?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the role of gender discrimination and sexual harassment in medical students' choice of specialty and residency program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires were distributed in 1997 to fourth-year students enrolled in 14 public and private U.S. medical schools. In addition to reporting the frequency of gender discrimination and sexual harassment encountered during preclinical coursework, core clerkships, elective clerkships, and residency selection, students assessed the impact of these exposures (none, a little, some, quite a bit, the deciding factor) on their specialty choices and rankings of residency programs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,314 (69%) useable questionnaires were returned. Large percentages of men (83.2%) and women (92.8%) experienced, observed, or heard about at least one incident of gender discrimination and sexual harassment during medical school, although more women reported such behavior across all training contexts. Compared with men, significantly (p </= .01) more women who reported exposure indicated that gender discrimination and sexual harassment influenced their specialty choices (45.3% versus 16.4%) and residency rankings (25.3% versus 10.9%). Across all specialties, more women than men experienced gender discrimination and sexual harassment during residency selection, with one exception: a larger percentage of men choosing obstetrics and gynecology experienced such behavior. Among women, those choosing general surgery were most likely to experience gender discrimination and sexual harassment during residency selection. Interestingly, correlations between exposure to gender discrimination and sexual harassment and self-assessed impact on career decisions tended to be larger for men, suggesting that although fewer men are generally affected, they may weigh such experiences more heavily in their choice of specialty and residency program.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that exposure to gender discrimination and sexual harassment during undergraduate education may influence some medical students' choice of specialty and, to a lesser degree, ranking of residency programs.
authors.affiliation: Student Assessment & Program Evaluation, Office of Academic Affairs, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, MN104 Medical Science Building, Lexington, KY 40536-0298, USA. tdstra00@uky.edu
authors.forename: Terry D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Stratton
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Florence M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.forename: Sue E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Fosson
authors.forename: Lois Margaret
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Nora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003657:Decision Making; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D010822:Physicians, Women; D011287:Prejudice; D012577:Schools, Medical; D017406:Sexual Harassment; D013038:Specialization; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States