Opportunities for Women - Page 4
DOORS ARE OPEN
By 1975, enrollment of women in medical schools
increased to 20%, and by 1980
to 29% of the total number of medical students.
For the 2005–06 academic year, first-
year women made up more than 40% of the entering
class (see Table 8.1). About 50% of
the women and (men) who applied since 2005-2006
were admitted to medical school.
Of the 126 U.S. medical schools, more than 50
currently have a total female enrollment
greater than 50%, and less than 15 schools have
a total female enrollment of 40% or
less. Consequently, all the other medical
schools (about 60), have an enrollment of 40 to
50% women, a dramatic change over the past
several decades.
The impact of increased enrollment of women is
shown by the fact that in the 40-
year span between 1930 and 1970 only 14,000
women graduated from medical school,
while over the 10-year period between 1970 and
1980 more than 20,000 women graduated.
The increase in total enrollment that has taken
place is not due to an improved apti-
tude on the part of women students applying or
an increase in the number of women
obtaining their baccalaureate degree. Rather
the increase is probably due to the follow-
ing reasons: (1) a perceptible change in
society's attitude toward women in medicine,
particularly in the educational climate; (2)
the realization that women make up a vast
and untapped source of medical talent; (3) the
obvious difference between the propor-
tion of female doctors in this country as
against other countries; and (4) the increase in
the trend for women to become wage earners,
reflecting a changing cultural pattern.
ADMISSION TO MEDICAL SCHOOL
The dramatic change in the admission picture
for women is reflected in two major ways.
The first manifestation is evident in the
number of women being accepted (currently
more than 50%) and the number of women in
recent graduation classes (presently more
than 40%). Second is the sustained character of
the positive enrollment picture for
women, which has extended for more than 25
years. Thus, while the year-to-year
increases have been small over the last few
years, they have maintained the forward
momentum to the point where an average 40%
enrollment level for women in U.S. med-
ical schools becomes a realistic expectation.
This is especially true since the white male
segment of the applicant pool has decreased
sharply over the past 25 years, from nearly
80% to less than 50%, while female applicants
constitute well over 40% of the pool, a
threefold increase over the same
period.
The prospects for women in medicine are more
encouraging now than at any other time
in the past century. This is clearly evident
from a review of the percentages of women
accepted in recent years, which establishes
that an equal percentage of women to men were
accepted from their respective applicant pools.
Therefore, it can be anticipated that women
will continue to make up a large part of
medical school classes in the coming years.
The obvious conclusion is that women now make
up a major, permanent segment of
the available freshman places.
THE WOMAN PHYSICIAN: A STATUS
REPORT
The status of women will be discussed from
three perspectives: (1) an overview, (2) resi-
dency choices, and (3) faculty
appointments.
An Overview
The initial profile of the typical woman
physician emerged from an extensive study that
was conducted in 1957 covering graduates from a
15-year period. In terms of their per-
sonal life, it showed that 57% of all female
doctors were married and that these women
had, on the average, 1.8 children (as against
the national average of 2.3 children in all med-
ical families). Other findings were that half
of the married physicians were part of a hus-
band-wife doctor team and that women doctors
were slightly more likely to be divorced
than females in the general population. Recent
studies updated this profile and showed that
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