Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Anthropology

Reader 1

Seo Young Park

Reader 2

Gabriela Morales

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of women physicians in the U.S. biomedical system, navigating both the gendered labor and professional identities in a historically-male dominated field. Women physicians have a unique experience insofar as they must adhere to changing standards while simultaneously molding to the distinct and additional expectations imposed on and re-produced within the field. Based on thirteen interviews I conducted with women doctors who have been in the field for at least five years, this study explores their perceptions of the evolving culture and training in the medical field. In my thesis, I argue that the ideological hierarchy which exists in the U.S. biomedical society posits that competency and professionalism are more important and powerful than care and personhood. Through gendered socialization, women physicians are expected to be able to more fluently integrate and produce care in their work, working against this hierarchy while defining and implementing their unique understandings of care.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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