Ten-Year Female Representation Among US Dental School Applicants

Objectives: Over the past decade, the dental profession has undergone significant transformations, reflecting the evolving societal landscape and the attempt to increase representation of minorities towards diversity/inclusivity within healthcare. This study aimed to analyze trends in gender among applicants, 1^st-year students and graduates in US dental schools from 2011-12 to 2021-22, considering their crucial role in shaping the future dental workforce.
Methods: Data were collected from the Survey of Dental Education (Commission on Dental Accreditation) completed by 68 US dental schools. Differences in trend in gender between applicants, 1^st-year students and graduates were calculated and compared between public and private schools with chi-square.
Results: There was a significant shift in gender representation among applicants (p<.0001) and 1^st-year students (p<.0001), with fluctuation across the 10-year observation period. Male applicants decreased from 56% in 2011-12 to 44.6% in 2021-22, while female applicants increased from 44% in 2011-12 to 55.4% in 2021-22. Similarly, among 1^st-year students, males decreased from 54.2% in 2011-12 to 44.3% in 2021-22, while females increased from 45.8% in 2011-12 to 55.7% in 2021-22. 1^st-year male student representation decreased by 13.92% (from 52.4% to 45.1%) and by 24.22% (from 57.8% to 43.8%) in public and private schools, respectively. Conversely, 1^st-year female student representation increased by 15.13% (from 47.6% to 54.8%) and by 33.18% (from 42.2% to 56.2%) in public and private schools, respectively. In 2021-22, there was a significantly higher number of females enrolled in private schools compared to public schools (55.8% vs 53.1%, p<.0001). While the proportion of male graduates reflected that of the students enrolled at 1^st-year, fewer females tended to graduate compared to the number enrolled as 1^st-year.
Conclusions: There has been a shift and continuous trend towards a higher female representation among dental students over the past decade, especially in private schools.