Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students
Abstract Background Discrimination due to gender and ethnicity has been found to be widespread in medicine and healthcare. Swedish and European legislation list seven discrimination grounds (age, sex, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, non-binary gender identity, and disability) which may intersect wit...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03558-6 |
| _version_ | 1818235520912719872 |
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| author | Lotta Velin Michelle S. Chew Laura Pompermaier |
| author_facet | Lotta Velin Michelle S. Chew Laura Pompermaier |
| author_sort | Lotta Velin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Discrimination due to gender and ethnicity has been found to be widespread in medicine and healthcare. Swedish and European legislation list seven discrimination grounds (age, sex, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, non-binary gender identity, and disability) which may intersect with each other; yet these have only been sparsely researched. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of discrimination, based on these seven discrimination grounds, amongst final-year medical students in Sweden. Methods A web-based survey, based on the CHERRIES-checklist, was disseminated to course coordinators and program directors in charge of final year medical students at all seven medical schools in Sweden. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, and logistic regression. Free-text answers were analyzed thematically using the “Master Suppression techniques” conceptual framework. Results Of the 1298 medical students contacted, 247 (19%) took part in the survey. Almost half (n = 103, 42%) had experienced some form of discrimination, and this difference was statistically significant by gender (p = 0.012), self-perceived ethnicity (p < 0.001), country of birth other than Scandinavia (p < 0.001) and visible religious signs (p = 0.037). The most common type of discrimination was gender-based (in 83% of students who had experienced discrimination), followed by age (48%), and ethnicity (42%). In the logistic regression, women/non-binary gender (p = 0.001, OR 2.44 [95% CI 1.41–4.22]), country of birth not in Scandinavia (p < 0.001, OR 8.05 [2.69–24.03]), non-Caucasian ethnicity (p = 0.04, OR 2.70 [1.39–5.27]), and disability (p = 0.02, OR 13.8 [1.58–12040]) were independently associated with discrimination. Half of those who had experienced religion-based discrimination and nearly one-third of victims of ethnicity-based discrimination reported “large” or “extreme” impact of this. Clinical staff or supervisors were the most common offenders (34%), closely followed by patients and their relatives (30%), with non-Caucasian respondents significantly more likely to experience discrimination by patients (p < 0.001). Conclusions Discrimination appears to be frequent in medical school, even in one of the world’s “most equal countries”. Discrimination is most commonly gender- or ethnicity-based, with ethnicity- and religion-based discrimination appearing to have the largest impact. Future research should continue to evaluate discrimination from an intersectional perspective, adapted for local contexts and legislations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T11:55:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-37c9ef25d4e246d4ab6369afc2455fff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T11:55:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-37c9ef25d4e246d4ab6369afc2455fff2022-12-22T00:25:12ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202022-06-0122111010.1186/s12909-022-03558-6Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical studentsLotta Velin0Michelle S. Chew1Laura Pompermaier2Centre for Teaching & Research in Disaster Medicine and Traumatology (KMC), Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping UniversityDivision of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping UniversityDepartment of Hand Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Burns, Linköping UniversityAbstract Background Discrimination due to gender and ethnicity has been found to be widespread in medicine and healthcare. Swedish and European legislation list seven discrimination grounds (age, sex, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, non-binary gender identity, and disability) which may intersect with each other; yet these have only been sparsely researched. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of discrimination, based on these seven discrimination grounds, amongst final-year medical students in Sweden. Methods A web-based survey, based on the CHERRIES-checklist, was disseminated to course coordinators and program directors in charge of final year medical students at all seven medical schools in Sweden. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, and logistic regression. Free-text answers were analyzed thematically using the “Master Suppression techniques” conceptual framework. Results Of the 1298 medical students contacted, 247 (19%) took part in the survey. Almost half (n = 103, 42%) had experienced some form of discrimination, and this difference was statistically significant by gender (p = 0.012), self-perceived ethnicity (p < 0.001), country of birth other than Scandinavia (p < 0.001) and visible religious signs (p = 0.037). The most common type of discrimination was gender-based (in 83% of students who had experienced discrimination), followed by age (48%), and ethnicity (42%). In the logistic regression, women/non-binary gender (p = 0.001, OR 2.44 [95% CI 1.41–4.22]), country of birth not in Scandinavia (p < 0.001, OR 8.05 [2.69–24.03]), non-Caucasian ethnicity (p = 0.04, OR 2.70 [1.39–5.27]), and disability (p = 0.02, OR 13.8 [1.58–12040]) were independently associated with discrimination. Half of those who had experienced religion-based discrimination and nearly one-third of victims of ethnicity-based discrimination reported “large” or “extreme” impact of this. Clinical staff or supervisors were the most common offenders (34%), closely followed by patients and their relatives (30%), with non-Caucasian respondents significantly more likely to experience discrimination by patients (p < 0.001). Conclusions Discrimination appears to be frequent in medical school, even in one of the world’s “most equal countries”. Discrimination is most commonly gender- or ethnicity-based, with ethnicity- and religion-based discrimination appearing to have the largest impact. Future research should continue to evaluate discrimination from an intersectional perspective, adapted for local contexts and legislations.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03558-6DiscriminationMedical studentSurveySexGenderEthnicity |
| spellingShingle | Lotta Velin Michelle S. Chew Laura Pompermaier Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students BMC Medical Education Discrimination Medical student Survey Sex Gender Ethnicity |
| title | Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students |
| title_full | Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students |
| title_fullStr | Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students |
| title_short | Discrimination in an “equal country”—a survey amongst Swedish final-year medical students |
| title_sort | discrimination in an equal country a survey amongst swedish final year medical students |
| topic | Discrimination Medical student Survey Sex Gender Ethnicity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03558-6 |
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