Open AccessGender Bias and Stereotypes in Medicine: A Medical Student Experience
Author(s) -
Sofía Jezzini-Martinez,
Daniela GonzalezCruz
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international journal of medical students
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2076-6327
DOI - 10.5195/ijms.2021.1200
Subject(s) - omnipresence , gender bias , psychology , gender discrimination , representation (politics) , gender identity , phenomenon , social psychology , implicit bias , prejudice (legal term) , political science , epistemology , law , politics , philosophy , economics , demographic economics
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.