Validation of a gender awareness scale in health sciences students

Objective: Given the need to promote gender equity in healthcare, this research aimed to adapt and validate a short version of the Nijmegen Gender Awareness Scale (N-GAMN), that assesses attitudes and gender stereotyping of health sciences students. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out using a questionnaire among health sciences students from the universities of Barcelona, Cantabria, Cartagena de Indias and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. Nine hundred fifty-six students filled out the questionary. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to establish the relationship between the observed variables and the latent dimensions. Results: The factorial analysis evaluated the validity of the scale and confirmed the existence of a three-dimensional structure composed of: (F1) gender stereotypes towards patients, (F2) gender stereotypes towards professionals and (F3) gender sensitivity in the healthcare (fit data: CFI = 0.917, TFI = 0.899, RMSEA = 0.08 and SRMEA = 0.06). Descriptive statistics showed relatively high levels of gender awareness among the participants. Fewer stereotypes were observed towards professionals than towards patients. Women and students from Spanish universities showed a higher level of awareness. However, the significance values of the Mann–Whitney U test allow us to infer the existence of differences based on geographical area, but not based on gender. Conclusions: The results suggest the potential application of the scale to assess the attitudes of students and professionals towards gender stereotypes and biases associated with clinical practice, as well as to assess the impact of gender awareness actions. (AU)