Gender Equality in Employment among Health Care Undergraduate Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to predict the important variables associated with health care undergraduate students’ opinion of gender equality (GE) in employment. Design: This study adopted a cross-sectional design with multistage sampling and adhered to STROBE guidelines. Setting: From one of the universities of health care in northern Taiwan. Participants: We recruited 2855 health care students and the questionnaire response rate was 78.3%. Results: Female students in this study have a better concept of GE in employment. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between the subjects’ gendered concept of family and GE in employment. From the results of multiple linear regressions, the important and significant variables were female, sophomore students, students who were in the division of continuing college self-attitude toward gender roles, attitude toward parental expectations of gender roles, those could explain 45.3% of the variation in GE in employment. Conclusion: Students exposed to the active cultivation of GE in health education largely benefit future professional development. Establishing a GE concept on campus will help students develop their profession in the future. Encourage the school to offer at least one “gender-related” elective subject per semester, especially in the on-the-job training programs to satisfy the needs of GE education.