This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research program. It is a study of the processes by which male and female resident physicians choose their medical specialties. It will be carried out through both telephone surveys and intensive, face-to-face interviews with resident physicians in Nashville, TN. Results will be analyzed to determine the extent to which the processes by which women physicians tend disproportionately to end up in specialties such as pediatrics and gynecology involve constraints and discrimination versus preferences and values. This research will contribute to a very active field of research on the nature of the processes producing sex segregation among occupations. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to the future scientific manpower of the nation and the thorough training of the next generation of sociologists.
