Linguistic analysis of pediatric residency personal statements: gender differences
| Autor: | Aubrey D. Gower, Megan A. Moreno, Jessica C. Babal, John G. Frohna |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Future studies 020205 medical informatics Writing Word count education Specialty lcsh:Medicine 02 engineering and technology Linguistic analysis Pediatrics Vocabulary Education Developmental psychology Writing style 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Bias 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Gender bias Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Statement (computer science) lcsh:LC8-6691 Medical education lcsh:Special aspects of education lcsh:R Internship and Residency Gender Linguistics General Medicine Tone (literature) United States Residency Female Psychology Research Article |
| Zdroj: | BMC Medical Education BMC Medical Education, Vol 19, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2019) |
| ISSN: | 1472-6920 |
| Popis: | Background All US residency programs require applicants to submit personal statements. Prior studies showed gender differences in personal statement writing, which has implications for gender bias in the application process, but previous studies have not considered the dual influence of specialty-specific values on personal statement writing by applicants of each gender. Objective To understand gender differences in pediatric residency personal statements. Methods From 2017 to 2018, we performed linguistic analysis of personal statements written by interviewees at a mid-size US pediatrics residency during two prior academic years. We assessed writing tone, communal language, and agentic language. We performed t-tests to evaluate for gender differences, p Results We analyzed personal statements from 85 male and 85 female interviewees. Average word count was 676 words. Personal statements demonstrated analytic writing style with authentic and positive emotional tone. We found no gender differences in communal language for social affiliation (p = 0.31), adjectives (p = 0.49), or orientation (p = 0.48), which deviates from typical gender norms for male language use. Males used agentic language of reward more frequently (p = 0.02). Conclusions Findings suggest that social language is valued in pediatrics, a predominantly female specialty, regardless of applicant gender. Use of reward language by males is consistent with previous findings. Future studies should evaluate gender differences in residency applications across specialties to advance understanding of the role gender plays in the application process. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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