女性医師が専門科を選択する要因について

インタビュー調査の結果から

抄録

This article analyzes the factors contributing to uneven distribution of medical specialization by gender, based on theories derived from both sociological and economic traditions regarding career choices against survey data obtained from interviews with female medical doctors. Uneven distribution of medical specialization between the genders is a serious problem, and is directly related to the problems of shortages and overall uneven distribution of medical doctors that have recently become issues of public concern. The results of the analysis show that female doctors tend to congregate in a relatively limited number of areas of specialization, not so much because of outright sexual discrimination based on traditional gender role values of male bosses and colleagues, or because of traditional gender role values espoused by female doctors themselves, but because of different incentives and structural and institutional factors associated with these particular areas of specialization, although gender role values may indirectly affect female doctors' career choices through human capital investment decisions and interests they espouse in peculiar specializations. These results suggest that appropriate changes to the system would greatly alleviate the problem of uneven distribution of medical doctors by gender.