Are there gender differences in academic medical career aspirations related to research, mentoring and discrimination? A national cross-sectional study of French medical residents

Objectives Academic medical careers remain marked by persistent gender inequalities, despite the growing feminisation of the medical workforce. The objective of this study was to examine whether gender differences exist in key individual and institutional determinants of academic medical career aspirations among medical residents, including research motivation, mentoring, work centrality, self-efficacy, perceived discrimination and stress.

Design This was a national cross-sectional online survey. Setting Multicentre study conducted across 36 medical schools in France.

Participants A total of 1570 medical residents (997 women and 573 men) voluntarily participated between November 2022 and February 2023. All participants completed validated self-report questionnaires.

There were no exclusion criteria beyond being enrolled in a French residency programme. Primary and secondary outcome measures Attitudes towards research (interest, motivation, significance) were measured using the Scale of Attitudes towards Research.

Mentoring was assessed with the Mentor - Mentee Perception Questionnaire, work centrality with Hirschfeld and Feild's scale, self-efficacy with the General Self-Efficacy Scale, perceived discrimination with the Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Experiences of Academic Medical Faculty instrument and stress with the Perceived Stress Scale.