Gender differences appear in progression outcomes and workplace-based assessments, including ARCP outcomes, milestone ratings, feedback language and granted autonomy, with direction varying by specialty and rater¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Two studies reported women received 60% more non-satisfactory ARCP outcomes than men, while in O&G men had higher non-satisfactory outcomes. → Jones Rebecca L. 2024 q2 i? In workplace-based assessment, men received compliments with superlatives while women more often received mitigating phrases, and assessors often gave female trainees lower autonomy ratings. → Jones Rebecca L. 2024 (2)

Evidence¶

Jones Rebecca L. 2024¶

Jones Rebecca L., Prusmetikul Suwimol, Whitehorn Sarah. (2024). Differential attainment in assessment of postgraduate surgical trainees: a scoping review. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05580-2

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports, citing two cohort studies, that women received "60% more non-satisfactory outcomes than men" in ARCP progression reviews, while an RCOG report found the reverse in O&G. No effect sizes are printed.

"Two studies reported that women received 60% more non-satisfactory outcomes than men [16, 18]. In contrast, in O&G men had higher non-satisfactory ARCP outcomes without explicit reasons for this given [19]."

Jones Rebecca L. 2024 (2)¶

Jones Rebecca L., Prusmetikul Suwimol, Whitehorn Sarah. (2024). Differential attainment in assessment of postgraduate surgical trainees: a scoping review. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05580-2

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review's synthesis of workplace-based assessment studies: narrative feedback differed by gender (superlatives vs. mitigating phrases), and several studies found assessors gave female trainees lower autonomy ratings, though only one replicated this in performance scores. Findings are second-hand via the review.

"Gerull et al. [25] demonstrated men received compliments with superlatives or standout words, whereas women were more likely to receive compliments with mitigating phrases (e.g., excellent vs. quite competent)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Published research on differential attainment in postgraduate surgical assessment is dominated by quantitative, gender-focused studies from the USA and UK — related
• Evidence on gender gaps in surgical examination pass rates is mixed, with lower female MRCS pass rates in some UK studies but no differences in several other examinations — related
• Lower socioeconomic background, older age, graduate-entry and non-professional parental background are associated with lower MRCS pass rates and more non-satisfactory ARCP outcomes — related
• Female trainees report fewer operative cases and less operative experience than male trainees in several surgical specialties — related