Gender‐specific effects of raising Year‐1 standards on medical students' academic performance and stress levels

Autor: Jeroen van der Waal, Karen M. Stegers-Jager, Andrea M. Woltman, Mesut Savas, Elisabeth F.C. van Rossum
Přispěvatelé: Research & Education, Internal Medicine, Sociology
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Medical Education
Medical Education, 54(6), 538-546. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
ISSN: 1365-2923
0308-0110
Popis: Context Medical schools are challenged to create academic environments that stimulate students to improve their study progress without compromising their well‐being. Objectives This prospective comparative cohort study investigated the effects of raising Year‐1 standards on academic performance and on students' chronic psychological and biological stress levels. Methods In a Dutch medical school, students within the last Bachelor's degree cohort (n = 410) exposed to the 40/60 (67%) credit Year‐1 standard (67%‐credit cohort) were compared with students within the first cohort (n = 413) exposed to a 60/60 (100%) credit standard (100%‐credit cohort). Main outcome measures were Year‐1 pass rate (academic performance), mean score on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, psychological stress) and hair cortisol concentration (HCC, biological stress). Results Year‐1 pass rates were significantly higher in the 100%‐credit cohort (odds ratio [OR] 4.65). Interestingly, there was a significant interaction effect (OR 0.46), indicating that raising the standard was more effective for male than for female students. PSS scores (n = 234 [response rate [RR]: 57%] and n = 244 [RR: 59%] in the 67%‐ and 100%‐credit cohorts, respectively) were also significantly higher in the 100%‐credit cohort (F (1,474) = 15.08, P
Raise the bar and students will meet it, but at what cost? Stegers‐Jager et al. show that raising performance standards yield improved passing rates, but also drives stress.
Databáze: OpenAIRE