Men, Women, and the Premed Persistence Gap: A Normative Alternatives Approach

Recent data indicate that, while almost the same proportion of male and female college freshmen enter undergraduate premedical programs, substantially fewer females eventually apply to medical school. College transcripts from a large eastern university were examined to determine whether the lower persistence rate of females is a consequence of a generally lower level of academic performance. The evidence indicates that the differential rate of application is only slightly determined by sex differences in academic performance. Most of the variance is the consequence of a unique pattern of persistence. Females with moderate and low levels of academic performance are substantially less likely than males with similar levels of performance to apply to medical school, but those with a high level of performance are equally likely to apply. Existing "normative" and "structural barriers" approaches in explaining the persistence gap are assessed in terms of logic and evidence. A "normative alternatives" approach that may provide a more adequate explanation of these findings is offered.