Barriers Faced by Female Doctors in Career Development at King Edward Medical University

Abstract: A career is the combination and sequence of roles played by a person during the course of a lifetime. Objective: To nd out the barriers faced by female doctors in career development at King Edward Medical University. Methods: At Mayo Hospital, Lahore, 100 practicing female doctors including house ofcers, medical ofcers and post-graduate doctors were selected by simple random sampling. Data were collected through pre-tested questionnaire. The duration of study was 6 months. Data were compiled and analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. Results: Out of 100 doctors, more than 70% attributed early marriage, non-supportive spouse and demands of in-laws as barrier to career advancement. Preference of male doctors by patients 71% and by employers 58% was also reported to be a hurdle. More than 60% were of the view that hectic work schedule and difcult night duties were draining for them. 86% said that long working hours affect their work quality. Above 80% reported that commute problems and uncomfortable circumstances at work place act as a deterrent. However, majority were of the view that socioeconomic conditions and self-efcacy of female doctors play only a trivial role in their career development. Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that extrinsic barriers play a signicant role in hindering career development of female doctors. Of these, unsupportive spouse, family pressures, professional male dominance, stressful work routine, commute problems and uncomfortable working situations are notably important. Intrinsic barriers are far less important. Key words: Barriers, career development, household, gender bias, work environment