Research published last fall in the journal Academic Medicine indicates that women doctors report experiencing microaggressions at much higher rates than male doctors do.
A study led by VJ Periyakoil, MD, presented medical school faculty at four American universities with videos of microaggression scenarios depicted by professional actors. The participants were asked to rate how often each scenario occurred in real life.
Female respondents identified 21 of them as frequent, whereas their male colleagues said such scenarios were uncommon.
Microaggressions deemed prevalent by women included sexually inappropriate comments, being relegated to mundane tasks, and incidents of bias related to pregnancy or childcare.
