Gender Bias and Stereotypes in Medicine: A Medical Student Experience

Abstract

Gender bias is a universal phenomenon that is strongly embedded in human society. Its omnipresence originates consequences that have a lasting structural impact. Despite social, scientific, and cultural changes, gender discrimination remains prevalent in the twenty-first century. In this paper, we describe a situation in which a medical student was discouraged by a professor when she expressed the professional path she intended to pursue in the future just because of her gender. In addition, we discuss possible solutions such as raising awareness, developing educational programs, increasing women representation, and addressing everyone’s needs. It is imperative that we, as a society, educate ourselves in identifying stereotypes and gender-biased situations to eliminate gender discrimination in science and in our systems.

Keywords

• gender bias
• stereotypes
• medical students