Gender Differences In First Year Dental Students’ Career Choice Motivations

To determine first-year dental students’ career choice motivations about the dental profession at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University – Sofia, Bulgaria as well as if any gender differences existed among participants in the study sample. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a questionnaire-based design. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire, consisting of 12 questions to gather socio-demographic data and survey students’ motivation for choosing dentistry was used. Standard descriptive statistics, One-Sample Chi-Square Test, One-Sample Binominal Test and Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test were utilized. The significance level was set at p<.05. A total of 115 students provided duly completed questionnaires (response rate 92%). Of these, 69 (60.0%), p=.040 were females. Most students were self-motivated to choose dentistry as a career - 71 (61.7%), more than a third were influenced by their parents - 41 (35.7%) or another dentist - 18 (15.7%), p<.001. Dental students in this sample were motivated to choose dentistry because they considered this profession as being a humane and noble occupation - 65 (56.6%), ensuring independence - 56 (48.7%), prestige - 44 (38.3%), and financial stability - 34 (29.6%) to the practitioner, p<.001. No significant differences were found between males and females regarding these motivational factors, p= .415. Motives for choosing dental medicine as a career included many factors according to the selected socio-demographic criteria. Many of them suggested family and friends’ environment as well as professional, educational and economic opportunities.