Effect of Gender on Performance of Undergraduate Dental Students at the University of Jordan, Amman Faleh A. Sawair, B.D.S., F.D.S., R.C.S.(Eng.), Ph.D.; Zaid H. Baqain, B.D.S., M.Sc., F.D.S., R.C.S.(Eng.); Iyad Kh. Al-Omari, B.D.S., M.Sc., M.Orth., R.C.S.(Ed.); Fouad K. Wahab, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D.; Lamis D. Rajab, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D. Abstract: The purpose of this study was to see if gender-based differences exist in the performance of dental students at the University of Jordan (UJ), Amman. The retrospective analysis included data from two groups of students: 413 fourth-year dental students (178 males and 275 females) from four consecutive years (2005 through 2008) and 357 fifth-year students (128 males and 229 females) who graduated in the years 2005 to 2008. The influence of gender on the results of the fourth-year students in six theoretical and six clinical courses and the cumulative GPAs of the fifth-year students were studied. In both theoretical and clinical fourth-year courses, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant main differences in raw scores between the two gender groups. Female students were significantly better in five theoretical courses. In clinical courses, female students outscored male students in pediatric dentistry and prosthodontics, male students outperformed female students in conservative dentistry and orthodontics, and no significant gender differences were seen in oral surgery and fixed prosthodontics. The cumulative GPAs of the female graduated students were significantly higher than those of the male students. The results showed a significant relationship between gender and academic performance of dental students for these classes. The reasons for these findings should be further investigated. Dr. Sawair is Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Periodontology; Dr. Baqain is Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Periodontology; Dr. Al-Omari is Associate Professor, Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics; Dr. Wahab is Professor, Department of Conservative Dentistry; and Dr. ���� Rajab ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� is ������������������������������������������������������������������ Professor and Dean—all in the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Jordan, Amman. Direct correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr. Faleh Sawair, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan; 962-6-5355000, ext. 23595 phone;
[email protected]. Keywords: dental education, gender, undergraduate, dental student, examinations, Jordan, academic achievement Submitted for publication 4/27/09; accepted 7/20/09
J
ordan is a Middle Eastern country that has a total population of 5.7 million—37 percent of whom are less than fifteen years of age (2007 estimate).1 Nearly 39 percent of the citizens live in the capital city of Amman. The primary language is Arabic, and the religion of nearly 93 percent of the people is Islam. The country has given great attention to education; the literacy rate was 92.1 percent in 2007. In the 2004 census, nearly 24 percent of adults twenty years of age and older had a university education.1 The structure of the educational system in Jordan consists of ten years of compulsory primary education followed by two years of secondary education that can either be academic or vocational depending on students’ achievement in primary school and their preference. Secondary education includes several academic options in which students can enroll: science, arts, information technology, religion, and others. At the end of their secondary education, students have
November 2009 ■ Journal of Dental Education
to pass the General Secondary Examination (GSE) in their selected branch to be awarded the General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC). Thereafter, students apply for universities, competing according to their grades in the GSE; however, vocational education qualifies for community colleges or the job market.2 The schools of medicine and dentistry are almost always the most competitive for students, requiring the highest grades in the GSE. Since there are only two dental schools in Jordan, the graduates of the entire nation compete for a limited number of seats. Dental education in Jordan is based on five full calendar years (three semesters) to obtain the bachelor’s degree. The first three years of the curriculum include general science, basic medical and dental sciences, and preclinical dental courses; the last two years include clinical sciences and clinical training. Before being allowed to practice dentistry in the United States, holders of the Jordanian bachelor’s degree in dentistry are usually
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asked to obtain certification from an accredited dental school in the United States that they have completed a minimum of two years of clinical training, but they can pursue a master’s or Ph.D. degree without additional requirements in the United Kingdom. In 2007, females in Jordan comprised slightly less than half of the population (48.5 percent). 1 However, more females than males are enrolling in Jordanian universities.3 In the academic year 2008– 09, 64.7 percent of the students at the University of Jordan (UJ), the largest and oldest university in the country, were females compared to 58.5 percent in the year 2003–04.4 The growing proportion of females is more dramatic when only first-year students were considered: nearly 70 percent in the academic year 2008–09 at the UJ were females.3 The gender distribution at the School of Dentistry at the UJ also has a majority of female dental students. For example, in the academic year 2007–08, 75.4 percent of the dental students were females.4 The potential role gender plays when studying students’ academic performance is becoming increasingly more important. While research has found that female medical students did better than male students in examinations,5-8 the question concerning gender differences in the performance on dental examinations is yet unresolved. While some studies have shown that males performed better than females,9-11 other researchers12-14 reported no gender difference in the performance of dental students. In light of the inconsistent findings and the lack of similar studies in our region, our study was carried out to investigate if gender has an influence on the performance of dental students at the UJ.
Methods The sample consisted of two groups of students. The first group included fourth-year dental students at the UJ who were examined in several dentistry courses between 2005 and 2008. Data from six fullyear courses (conservative dentistry, fixed prosthodontics, removable prosthodontics, oral surgery, pediatric dentistry, and orthodontics) that have both theoretical and practical (clinical) elements were included in the analyses. The students’ performance in the theoretical and clinical parts of the courses were analyzed separately to explore if there were gender differences in these academic outcomes. The scores included in the analyses were determined as follows. In the theoretical courses, the students took three on-
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line computer-based tests that consisted of single best answer questions. The students’ overall raw score of maximally 100 was determined by adding the scores in two midterm examinations (maximally twenty-five points each) and in the final examination (maximally fifty points). In the practical courses, the final raw score of 100 is the sum of sixty possible points for the clinical requirements completed throughout the year and forty points in a final clinical examination that includes case management questions and presentation. Ultimately, these raw score points are converted into the relative scoring system, which is based on letter grades (A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, F). The final letter grade is the one officially used, and it is determined relative to the distribution of scores achieved by all students in the class. Currently, no strict rules at UJ are being followed by instructors when converting the raw scores into letter grades; therefore, raw scores will be given more weight in this study. The second group of students included in this study consisted of fifth-year students who graduated in the years 2005 to 2008. The dental school cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) upon graduation for male and female students were compared. The cumulative GPA at UJ is out of 4.0 points����� and is categorized into “excellent” (3.65 to 4.0), “very good” (3.0 to 3.64), “good” (2.50 to 2.99), “satisfactory” (2.0 to 2.49), and “weak” (
