Table 1.
Characteristics and main findings of the included studies
| Author (ref.) | Design | QA | Research question | Country | Year | M (n) | F (n) | Ratio M/F | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Mendalawi [1] | Survey, cross-sectional | 7 | To study speciality preferences of medical students | Iraq | 6 | 70 | 38 | 1.8 | The most preferred clinical specialities chosen by male students were surgery (25 %), internal medicine (20.6 vs. 8.8 %) and paediatrics (16.2 vs. 8.8 %), whereas female students preferred gynaecology (19.1 vs. 1.5 %) |
| Compton [2] | Survey, cohort | 9 | Examine the association of speciality selections and change patterns with gender | USA | 1, 2/3, 4 | 501 | 441 | 1.1 | Of females starting with a preference for a non-primary care (non-PC) speciality (surgery, emergency room), 73 % remained in that category, compared with 90 % of males (p = .008). Females interested in PC (general practice, internal medicine, gynaecology, paediatrics) at three time points were 57, 41, and 44 %, compared with 34, 17, and 21 %, for males |
| Diderichsen [3] | Survey, cross-sectional | 8 | Investigate associations between motivational factors and speciality preference | Sweden | 6 | 157 | 215 | 0.7 | Both men and women preferred surgery, general practice and internal medicine most and gynaecology and paediatrics were also rather common. Almost a third of the students were uncertain of their speciality preference. Gynaecology was more often chosen by women graduates |
| Finucane [4] | Survey, cross-sectional | 7 | The career plans of interns | Ireland | 6 | 134 | 165 | 0.8 | Compared with men, women had twice as much interest in general practice, radiology, paediatrics, gynaecology and public health medicine and vice versa, men had a twofold preference for a career in surgery and anaesthetics |
| Fukuda [5] | Survey, cross-sectional | 7 | Investigate speciality preference in medical students | Japan | 1-6 | 303 | 190 | 1.6 | Internal medicine showed the highest preference rate, followed by general surgery, paediatrics, and emergency medicine. There was no significant correlation between the preference rates of men and women (r = 0.27, p = 0.34). The preference rates for general surgery, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, and emergency medicine were significantly higher in men than in women, while those of obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, and dermatology were significantly higher in women |
| Fysh [6] | Survey, cross-sectional | 8 | Career intentions of first-year students and whether females prefer surgery or other specialities | UK | 1 | 115 | 185 | 0.6 | Males represented over two-thirds of the students wishing to pursue a career in surgery. Females intended to pursue a career in general practice and paediatrics. Two-fifth of both genders opted for internal medicine or had no preference yet |
| Hojat [7] | Survey, cross-sectional | 8 | Examine the relationships between speciality interest and gender | USA | 1 | 517 | 559 | 0.9 | Males were more interested in surgical specialities (64 vs. 36 %), whereas females comprised a larger proportion (65 vs. 35 %) of those interested in PC (general practice, internal medicine, paediatrics). The association between speciality interest and gender was statistically significant |
| Khader [8] | Survey, cross-sectional | 8 | To investigate the career preferences of medical students | Jordan | 2,4,6 | 280 | 160 | 1.8 | Most male students preferred surgery (52 %) compared with 15 % of female students (p < 0.005). Gynaecology was preferred by 31 % of female students compared with 1 % of male students. Males (15 %) and females (14 %) were equally likely to express interest in internal medicine |
| Ku [9] | Survey, “cohort” | 7 | Assess gender segregation across specialities for a cohort of physicians from their entry into medical school | USA | 1,5 | 6,308 | 4,291 | 1.5 | Speciality aspirations at entry into schooling are just as gender-different as speciality choices at exit. At entry gender gap in favour of females are gynaecology, paediatrics, general practice and in favour for males are surgical specialities |
| Lefevre [10] | Survey, cross-sectional | 9 | Speciality choice of medical students in sixth year of study | France | 6 | 422 | 698 | 0.6 | Gender influenced the choice of speciality: 88 % of future paediatricians, 82 % of gynaecologists and 77 % of general practitioners (GPs) were women (p < 0.05) |
| Mwachaka [11] | Survey, cross-sectional | 10 | Factors influencing choice of career in paediatrics | Kenya | 1–5 | 217 | 168 | 1.3 | Female students were five times more likely than males to select paediatrics |
| Mehmood [12] | Survey, cross-sectional | 7 | Determine variation in speciality preferences during medical school | Saudi Arabia | 1–5 | 348 | 202 | 1.8 | The most preferred speciality expressed by male students was surgery, followed by internal medicine and orthopaedics, while most preferred by female students were surgery, followed by paediatrics and ophthalmology |
| Parsa [13] | Survey, cross-sectional | 7 | Freshmen versus interns’ speciality interests | Iran | 1–6 | 92 | 136 | 1.1 | Female students showed little interest in surgery and most favoured specialities were gynaecology, paediatrics and internal medicine |
| Van Tongeren [14] | Survey, cross-sectional | 8 | Gendered speciality preferences of new medical students’ | the Netherlands | 1 | 188 | 428 | 0.7 | 40 % of both male and female students reported no speciality preference. Female students opted for paediatrics (19.2 %), whereas male students were more interested in surgery (25.5 %). None of the male students opted for gynaecology |