The influence of gender and personality traits on the career planning of Swiss medical students.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Since the 1990s, as many women as men have been entering and graduating from medical schools in Western countries. Up to date, prospective studies of physicians' career paths are lacking. This paper presents the data of the first assessment of a longitudinal survey of a cohort of Swiss medical school graduates, evaluated with regard to how gender and personality traits contribute to their academic achievement and further career planning. METHODS In 2001, 719 graduate students (52.9% females, 47.1% males) returned a postal questionnaire comprising sections on personality traits, career motivation, and career planning. RESULTS Female graduates scored higher on traits such as helpfulness, relationship consciousness, empathy, family responsibility, and job security. Male students scored higher on traits such as independence, decisiveness, self-confidence, activity, income, and prestige. Women were further advanced in the writing of their thesis (p = 0.04), chose different topics (p <0.001), and had more often decided in which field they wished to specialise (p =.02). Women preferred fields with intensive patient contact (p <0.01), men tended to specialise more in instrumentally oriented and high-technology medicine (p <.001). The regression model revealed that, apart from gender (being female), instrumentality and extrinsic career motivation predict advanced academic achievement, whereas self-esteem and intrinsic career motivation influence the choice of speciality. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that women plan their career more purposefully than men, and that not only gender but also personality traits and career motivation play an important role in academic achievement and career planning.