Advancing Socialization Theories in Medical School Through Gender, Time, and Relationships

• In Event: The Import of Time Frame and Tempo in Qualitative Longitudinal Research on Professions Education

Abstract

Purpose: Socialization in medical education offers insights into ways individuals learn to join the medical culture by developing as doctors (Cruess et al., 2015). This development is shaped by learnings and informal interactions where students negotiate their sense of self alongside how they understand their professional roles as physicians (Hafferty, 2008). However, the process of socialization is also a function of social reproduction (Guhin et al., 2021) where values, identities, and personal histories are intertwined in processes of professional becoming (Sallee, 2011). A more nuanced and critical approach to understanding socialization in medical school, particularly with the increase of gender and racial diversity of medical students is necessary to address structural inequities in medical school and strengthen educational training. To do so, this study seeks to advance critical theories of socialization using QLR through the experiences of women medical students.

Theoretical Perspective: Socialization as understood through a sociological lens, is the process of learning to become a member of a group, culture, or specific society (Bourdieu, 2016). When situated within a critical perspective, examining the process of socialization also reveals the presence of social reproduction, social norms, and powerful structures (Gopaul, 2011; Swartz, 2012). For this study, many of these norms are gendered, as medical schools have historically been spaces for White, heterosexual men (Sharma, 2019). Moreover, applying the concept of socialization also necessitates attending to historical influences and cultural traditions (Guhin et al., 2021) when seeking to understand how individual attributes like gender shape one’s ability to become members of a group.

Methods/Techniques/Data Sources: The QLR design is set around a 2-year, time-bound case of pre-clinical medical education, what I refer to as a “tenuto” moment. Thus, sustained notes (individual narratives) form the composition (phenomenon of socialization) over the duration of bound time (undergraduate medical school). Since 2020, seventeen women participants over the course of 24-months have participated in 4 interviews each, and on average 4 reflections each.

Results: Three preliminary results comprise the findings of this study. First, moments of agency, internalization, and community forming in response to gendering as a product of socialization changes over time as participants progress through their medical education. Second, QLR and the positionality of the researcher can be a catalyst and a reflector for moments of agency, internalization, and community forming for participants. Third, “longitudinality” can be defined and confined by specific bounded calendar time, or by what a researcher perceives as playing the “full-note” (tenuto) of a story.

Significance: This study is significant in illuminating how QLR can be coupled with both theories (e.g., socialization) and other methodologies (critical narrative) (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) to complement the strengths of each and triangulate and bolster research design. Additionally, this study brings to light how individual stories can culminate in shared experiences, while simultaneously presenting a landscape of small discreet and personal moments of agency, reflection, and growth over time.

Author

• Emiko Blalock, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author