Abstract
Context: Gender inequality remains prevalent worldwide in academic medicine. A closer look into women physicians’ gendered experiences through the lens of culture is necessary to advance understanding of gender inequality in this context. Relatively few studies, however, have investigated how social and cultural practices implicitly yet significantly affect gender inequality throughout women physicians’ careers. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the lived experiences of South Korean women physicians working in academic medicine and to focus on social and cultural influences on the gendered process of their career journeys. The study will extend our understanding of gender inequality in academic medicine through an in-depth analysis of social and cultural practices that affect the phenomenon. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study utilising a grounded theory approach. Twenty-one women physicians participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were recorded, transcribed and analysed through a process of constant comparison using grounded theory to extract themes. Results: Junior women physicians were more vulnerable to gender discrimination and channelled to ‘ghettos’ through the seniority-based, patriarchal, collectivist and business hospital culture in South Korea. Under pressure to excel at work, they had no work–family balance and experienced identity crises as competent doctors and mothers. They felt themselves to be ‘othered’ in multiple cultural contexts, including school ties, rankism and a culture of after-work gatherings. Minimal levels of leadership aspiration created a vicious cycle of a lack of social networking and mentoring. Pursuing individual excellence, they attributed their struggles to personal choices and rarely sought organisational support. Conclusions: The dynamics of cultural and social practices constantly and implicitly recreate mechanisms to maintain gender inequality in academic medicine in South Korea. Planned culture changes at individual, organisational and national levels are imperative to discontinue the vicious cycle that exists in the labyrinth of women physicians’ career development in academic medicine.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1083-1095 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Medical education |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Contributors: All authors contributed to the design of the work and interpretation of the data. HH, YK and YC conducted the data collection. HH, YK and CC undertook the collaborative data analysis. SK performed the literature search and review. All authors participated in the drafting and critical revision of the work. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission. Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank all participants for giving up their time and for their openness in sharing their experiences. Funding: This research was supported by the Korea Foundation’s 2016 Fellowship for Field Research. Conflicts of interest: None. Ethical approval: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Indiana University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education
