I might not fit that doctor image: Ideal worker norms and women medical students

Despite the increasing numbers of women students in medical schools, focused attention on their perceptions about medical school and the medical profession remain underexamined. These perceptions are important to understand, particularly since women students are likely burdened with a host of gender norms related to work, family, and their future roles as physicians. Early experiences in medical school offer important insights into the larger student experience and are tied to academic outcomes and feelings of belonging. To examine early experiences of women medical students, this qualitative study used sensemaking theory to describe the current context and story of ideal worker norms. Critical qualitative interviews of 38 women students were performed during their first 2 months of medical school and explored both how the students perceived and experienced ideal worker norms, and how they made sense of the story of ideal worker norms. The participants described ways they encountered gendering and ideal worker norms through displays of nurturing behaviour, expectations to balance a future family, and whether they looked or acted the part of a doctor. This article highlights the challenges women medical students are already aware they will face, the opportunities they look forward to, and the strengths they anticipate leaning on to navigate their profession. Results from this study have implications for women medical students' learning experiences and transitions into medical school and for faculty, staff, and scholars concerned with challenging gendering norms that shape medical education.

Automated summary

This qualitative study examined the early experiences of 38 women medical students in their first two months of medical school, focusing on how they perceived and experienced ideal worker norms and how they made sense of these norms. The participants described encountering gendering and ideal worker norms through nurturing behavior, expectations related to balancing future family, and perceptions of looking or acting the part of a doctor. The study results have implications for challenges faced by women medical students, as well as opportunities and strengths that they anticipate to navigate their profession.