BMC Medical Education (Nov 2022)

Perceived barriers towards the importance and application of medical research: a source of gender disparity among medical undergraduates

  • Lina AlQirem,
  • Leen Al-Huneidy,
  • Muhammad Hammouri,
  • Hana Taha,
  • Husam Al-Somadi,
  • Farah Al-Bitar,
  • Razi Kitaneh,
  • Yazan Al-Huneidy,
  • Hussien Al-Somadi,
  • Omar Ashour,
  • Farah Sayed,
  • Dina Mohammed,
  • Raya Abu Tawileh,
  • Abdallah Al-Ani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03822-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 22, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background Little is known about gender disparity among medical undergraduates in the developing world. Therefore, this study aims to explore the attitudes and perceived barriers among Jordanian medical students, particularly women. Methods An online, self-administered questionnaire, developed after an extensive literature review, was disseminated across all six Jordanian medical schools targeting more than 5000 medical students. Student t-test and ANOVA were used to document mean differences among different groups. Linear and logistic regression models were used to find predictors of publication and number of publications. Results A total of 636 students participated in the survey with a women to men ratio of 1.1. Women medical students report significantly higher knowledge (t(634) = 2.47, p = 0.013), personal (t(634) = 3.31, p = 0.001), and total barriers scores than men (t(634) = 3.02, p = 0.003). Moreover, compared to men, women were less likely to find same-sex mentorship (t(634) = 3.18, p = 0.001) or receive credited authorship (t(634) = 2.12, p = 0.011). Overall, women medical students were more likely to perceive that their gender (t(634) = 3.58, p < 0.001) and people’s perception of their gender (t(634) = 4.25, p < 0.001) are barriers to their career advancement. Binary logistic regression demonstrated that gender is a significant predictor of being able to publish (OR: 1.645; 95%CI: 1.002–2.731), while linear regression demonstrated that gender is a predictor of number of publications (ß: 0.113; 95%CI: 0.063–0.288). Conclusion A significant gender disparity exists in terms of both attitudes and overall barriers among Jordanian medical undergraduates which calls for immediate policy changes as to produce successful clinicians and researchers.

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