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The impact of gender on role models and mentors.
*Vanessa Franz, Neil Hyman
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Objective: Role models are people that we can identify with, have qualities we would like, and are in positions we would like to reach. Mentorship is a partnership in which a mentee is guided and aided in personal and professional development. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of gender on the acquisition and characteristics of role models/mentors during medical school.
Design: Survey
Setting: Academic Medical Center
Participants: Third and fourth year medical students
Main Outcome Measures: Identification of a role model/mentor, importance of gender in choosing a role model/mentor.
Results: 72 students completed the survey. 94% of women vs. 70% of men reported having a role model ( p=.03). Neither women nor men found it necessary to have a role model of the same gender (82% women vs 96% men, p=0.38). However, 76% of women vs 40% of men thought this would be beneficial (p=.001). With regards to mentors, 83% of women and 75% of men respectively reported having a mentor, and 83% of men and 76% of women agreed that it is not necessary for a mentor to be of the same gender. However, 48% of women vs 7% of men thought there would be a benefit to having a same sex mentor (p=.003).
Conclusions: The majority of both men and women reported having a mentor, more women reported having a role model. While women do not feel it's necessary for a role model or mentor to be the same gender, they do feel that it would be beneficial as compared to men. Both men and women were split on whether a role model should be in the same field.
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