The relationship between perceived gender judgment and well-being among surgical residents.

BACKGROUND: Physician well-being is a significant problem. Here we explore whether one factor, a resident's concern for being judged by one's gender, influences well-being.

METHODS: Over two years at one institution, we surveyed surgical residents on validated measures of well-being as well as the extent to which they felt they were judged because of their gender (gender judgment). We used correlations and linear regression to investigate the relationships between gender judgment and well-being.

RESULTS: There were 193 unique respondents (87% response rate). Women had significantly more concerns about gender judgment than men (M = 2.39, SD = 0.73 vs. M = 1.46, SD = 0.62, t = -9.47, p < 0.00001). In regression analyses, gender judgment concerns were significantly associated with all three well-being outcomes (Bs -0.34, 0.50, and 0.39, respectively for well-being, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization, all p < 0.013).

CONCLUSIONS: The degree to which residents, both male and female, are concerned about being judged for their gender is significantly associated with worse well-being.