GENDER-DEPENDENT CAREER CHALLENGES AND THEIR IMPACT ON PERCEIVED WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN FEMALE DENTAL SURGEONS OF A PUBLIC SECTOR UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, KARACHI, PAKISTAN.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33279/jkcd.v16i01.1000Keywords:
Gender disparities, Work-life balance, Career challenges, Female dentists, Occupational stress, Work-place barriers, Familial challenges.Abstract
Objectives: To determine the gender-dependent career development challenges faced by female dental house officers/interns and residents of Sindh Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi and the association between these career development challenges and perceived work-life balance.
Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out at Jinnah Sindh Medical University, where a non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to survey the female dental surgeon. A sample size of 81 female dentists was computed to acquire a Confi dence Interval (C.I) of 95% & a margin of error of 5%, using the online calculator OpenEpi. A modified, structured pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive analysis aided in the calculation of frequencies, percentages, mean and median of categorical variables. The association between the independent and dependent variables was determined by using binary logistic regression.
Results: Our study revealed that environmental challenges were signifi cantly related to work–profession balance (Odds ratio=2.018). Cultural challenges were associated with both work–profession (Odds ratio=1.171) and work–personal leisure balance (Odds ratio =1.230). Interpersonal challenges significantly influenced work–family (Odds ratio = 3.416) and work–personal leisure balance (Odds ratio=1.446).
Conclusion: In our society, female dentists do not face major barriers to career development. However, family responsibilities, pregnancy, childcare, and long working hours can still negatively affect their progress. Our study indicates that familial responsibilities and childcare infl uence career-related decisions among female dentists.
References
Alahmadi BS, Alahmadi LS, Eltoum FM. Obstacles and Satisfaction to Balance Between Family Life and Medical Career Among Saudi Women Doctors. Cureus. 2023 May 9; DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.38759
Ashraf F, Salahuddin A, Azam F e. Factors Affecting Pakistani Women Doctors’ Decisions of Career Pursuance: A Study of Women doctors in Sialkot [Internet]. ResearchGate. unknown; 2022 [cited 2024 Oct 1].
Akhter N, Talukder MH, Alam K, Moon U, Chowdhury M, Hoque M. Views of the female graduate doctors regarding why not involved in health care services / health professional education : A qualitative study. Centre for Medical Education Journal. 2023 Dec 1;3(1).
Giglio V, Schneider P, Bond Z, Madden K, McKay P, Bozzo A, et al. Prevalence of gender-based and sexual harassment within orthopedic surgery in Canada. Canadian Journal of Surgery. 2022 Jan 27;65(1):E45–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cjs.013120
Dawood MH, Roshan M, Muhammad Daniyal, Sohail S, Perveen H, Islam UU. Gender Inequity in Clinical Clerkships and its Infl uence on Career Selection: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development. 2024 Jan 1;11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205241257401
Webster F, Rice K, Christian J, Seemann N, Baxter N, Moulton CA, et al. The erasure of gender in academic surgery: a qualitative study. The American Journal of Surgery [Internet]. 2016 Oct 1 [cited 2021 Oct 14];212(4):559–65 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2016.06.006
Malik M, Hussain A, Hashmi A, Saeed H, Azhar H, Abbasi AS. Barriers to gender equity for female healthcare academicians and researchers in Pakistan: Is it still an issue? Frontiers in Public Health. 2023 Jan 4;10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.981178
Karam A, Khan MD, Khan BD, Rahman A, Aziz SS, Karam AS, et al. Gender discrimination in surgery: A cross-sectional study in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. International Journal of Surgery Open [Internet]. 2022 Dec 1 [cited 2022 Dec 10];49:100575. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijso.2022.100575
Siddiqui MK, Taqi M, Naqvi S, Raza SA, Bawany H, Hasan Z. Levels of perceived stress according to professional standings among dental surgeons of Karachi: a descriptive study. BMC Oral Health. 2022 Jun 18;22(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-022-02272-5
Rehmani N, Khan QA, Fatima SS. Stress, Anxiety and Depression in students of a private medical school in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2018 May 24;34(3) DOI: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.343.14664
Fnais N, al-Nasser M, Zamakhshary M, Abuznadah W, Al-Dhukair S, Saadeh M, et al. Prevalence of harassment and discrimination among residents in three training hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Annals of Saudi Medicine. 2013 Apr;33(2):134 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2013.134
R. Akila, R. Sasikala. Sexual harassment at workplace faced by women employees in private organization special referenceto Tamilnadu and Pondicherry regions – India. AIP conference proceedings. 2022 Jan 1; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0070713
Kheir OO, Khair HM, Mapayi B, Patwa YH. Prevalence of sexual harassment among female medical staff in Four Khartoum State tertiary hospitals. The Pan African Medical Journal [Internet]. 2023 May 15;45(30). DOI: https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2023.45.30.36072
Hu YY, Ellis RJ, Hewitt DB, Yang AD, Cheung EO, Moskowitz JT, et al. Discrimination, Abuse, Harassment, and Burnout in Surgical Residency Training. New England Journal of Medicine [Internet]. 2019 Oct 31;381(18):1741–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1903759
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Hina Shah, Sumbul Ayaz, Ifrah Urooj, Dua Ayoub, Aqsa Mubasher, Khansa Kanwal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes .
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
