Policy and attitude-related reasons for gender disparity in post allocation for graduate medical education in Austria

Abstract

Objective: A previous study found that in Austria 50.3% physicians (m: 43.2%, f: 58.6%) have not attained their chosen specialty. We aimed to explore the policy – and attitude-related reasons for gender disparity in training post allocation.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used a quantitative and a qualitative method. A self-administered 12-item questionnaire was sent twice to all 8127 licensed Viennese physicians. Physicians’ opinions regarding why the chosen medical specialty was not attained were analyzed. To estimate the responder bias respondents from the first and second mailing were compared.

Results: A total of 2736 questionnaires (34%) were returned. When a specialty is favored by men, the chance for women to achieve that specialty decreases. According to the qualitative results, men were more often ready to accept training in a specialty different from the one originally desired. Female physicians were put at a disadvantage by consultants due to organizational considerations and sex-stereotyping.

Conclusions: According to physicians’ self-reported opinions, consultants do not place female candidates at disadvantage as a result of an unconscious process but mainly based on reasoning about organizational aspects and sex-stereotyping. Several explanations for the phenomenon that men are more often ready to accept training in a specialty different from the one originally desired were identified.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wolfgang Spiegel

WOLFGANG SPIEGEL, MD, is a general practitioner and a senior research fellow at the Department of General Practice, Center for Public Health of the Medical University of Vienna. As a clinical teacher he has a focus on research on medical education and on policy-related research.

Gustav Kamenski

GUSTAV KAMENSKI, MD, is a lecturer at the Department of General Practice, Center for Public Health of the Medical University of Vienna. He has been working as a GP in his single-handed medical office in a rural area in Austria since 1981.

Ingrid Sibitz

INGRID SIBITZ, MD, is a psychiatrist. She has been the leading psychiatrist at the day clinic of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna since 2003. She has a focus on research on gender aspects in patients with psychotic disorders and their carers.

Barbara Schneider

BARBARA SCHNEIDER, PhD, is a statistician and an assistant professor of the Institute of Medical Statistics of the Medical University of Vienna.

Manfred Maier

MANFRED MAIER, MD, is a professor of general practice, head of the Department of General Practice and head of the Center for Public Health of the Medical University of Vienna. He has spent a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.