Women medical students now outnumber men, yet they still face significant levels of gender harassment, contributing to increased rates of burnout and dissatisfaction. How do we improve the learning environment for our future doctors?
The email seemed innocuous on its face. An administrative assistant at the University of Michigan Medical School sent around a note to schedule a meeting. The note referred to all the male physicians as “Dr. Surname” and the lone female department member by her first name.
“Not my title, which is of course equal to theirs, and not my last name — just ‘Reshma,’” says Reshma Jagsi, MD, a professor in the department of radiation oncology at Michigan.
“And I am the Deputy Chair of the department.”
Gender harassment — what Jagsi refers to as the “daily series of indignities” — is a type of sexual harassment where members of one gender are targets of unwanted verbal or nonverbal behaviors. In fact, the seminal 2018 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) study, “Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,” found that half of all women in medical school have experienced some form of sexual harassment, with gender harassment being the most common. Examples include sexist stories and jokes; offensive remarks about someone’s appearance or body; gendered comments, such as suggestions that one sex is not suited to a particular type of work; and mistreatment, slights, or being ignored or patronized.
While both men and women may be on the receiving end of gender harassment, research suggests that women are victimized more often than men.
Read more here: Ending gender harassment in medicine