The career aspirations of women doctors who qualified in 1974 and 1977 from a United Kingdom medical school

Abstract

The career aspirations of doctors who qualified from a UK medical school were examined in relation to firmness of career choice and marital and family circumstances 1 year and 7 years after qualification. Although there was greater certainty of career choice amongst all doctors, the women were consistently less likely to be certain than the men. The men were more likely than the women to be married (and more likely to have children). The main differences in patterns of career choice were the greater popularity of medicine and surgery among the men and of general practice and community medicine among the women. The most plausible explanation for these differences is the different marital and family pressures experienced by men and women.