Male and female interns in postgraduate medical education, A comparative gender analysis of differences in career perspective and their conditions in, Abha, Saudi Arabia

Background: Although considerable gains have been made in reducing the gender gap in education and labour market outcomes, it has yet to completely disappear. The gender difference in job assignment within the firm, however, may reflect differences in career tracks or training provided through job assignment. Differences in specialty choice are not solely related to gender and working hours, and motives for specialty choice may differ according to specialty. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted targeting all medical interns in all accessible hospitals in Abha city during the period from October 2020 to January 2021. All accessible interns were invited to participate in the survey. The questionnaire was initiated by the researcher after intensive literature review and expert's consultation. The questionnaire covered the interns' socio-demographic data, work-related data and preferred speciality besides preferred workplace and work-time. The last section included occupational self-efficiency expectations. Results: The study included 80 medical interns of whom there were 30 males and 50 females. As for marital status, 73.3% of the male interns were married compared to 24% of the females with statistical significance (P=.001). Exactly 45.5% of married males had children compared to 85.7% of females (P=.016). The most preferred career choice by male interns was being Senior physician in a hospital (66.7%), and Faculty staff for teaching (66.7%). Among female interns, the most reported preferred workplaces were hospital work in total (72%), Faculty staff for teaching (52%), and Consultant physician in hospital (48%). High occupational self-efficacy was detected among 46.7% of the male interns versus 32% of females (P=.006). Conclusions: In conclusion, the current study revealed that there were gender differences regarding future workplace (especially high responsibility positions) and work time specifically for those who had children, especially for female interns. Besides, males showed bimodal occupational self-efficiency expectations while female interns were at moderate level.