Implications of gender differences in motivation among medical students

Dear Sir

Female medical students have been known to outperform male medical students in their academic GPAs. But their motivation, learning strategies, effort and performance have not been studied in relation to their perceived autonomy and competence in learning. Self-Determination Theory predicts such relationships (Kusurkar 2012) and led us to investigate these.

Our study sample consisted of 95 students (27 males and 68 females) who responded from a total of 184 students, from a four-year graduate-entry medical course at University Medical Center Utrecht. The average age was 24 years. We measured: autonomous motivation (AM) and controlled motivation (CM) using the Academic Motivation Scale, approach towards study (surface and deep) using the Study Process Questionnaire, exhaustion from study using Maslach Burnout Inventory and perception of autonomy using the Learning Climate Questionnaire and competence in learning using the Perceived Competence Questionnaire and in the content matter. AM measures motivation felt by the student for the medical study because of genuine interest or because of perceived importance, whereas CM measures motivation because of external pressures (guilt, shame and pressure from parents). Deep approach meant studying to find meaning whereas surface approach meant memorizing without understanding to merely pass a test. Perceived autonomy measured to what extent students felt they had choices in their learning and competence measured the extent of feeling of capability of learning.

Cronbach's alpha values of all the scales were above 0.70. We found that males had significantly higher CM (M = 4.14 ± 1.17, F = 3.63 ± 0.99, p = 0.03), higher surface approach (M = 2.09 ± 0.57, F = 1.75 ± 0.42, p = 0.02) and lower deep approach (M = 3.10 ± 0.61, F = 3.38 ± 0.42, p = 0.03) to study, fewer credits obtained (M = 9.45 ± 5.14, F = 14.86 ± 10.02, p = 0.003) than females, but their perceived competence in learning was higher (M = 6.20 ± 0.53, F = 5.68 ± 0.89, p = 0.004). There were no differences in the other parameters. Higher CM, higher surface approach and lower deep approach found in males were in line with other studies. (Kusurkar et al. 2012) In this study, we also studied perceived autonomy and competence. We found no difference in perceived autonomy, but males showed higher self-perception of competence than females, even if their performance was lower than or equal to females. It means that either males overestimate or females underestimate their competence. Overestimation of competence in males could be caused by a higher CM, i.e. higher external pressures. If it is important for males to feel better in comparison with others, they may create an image of higher competence than females.

Gender differences in the variables studied are important for teachers to understand before giving study advice or mentoring, as the requirements of males may be different from females. Our findings may just reflect Dutch gender differences, but we would urge other researchers to replicate our approach, to support a general trend that might have implications for education, advice and support for students.