Gender (Non)Conforming Roles and Perceptions Among (Aspiring) Romanian Medical Professionals: A Qualitative Study

Gender role beliefs shape healthcare interactions, particularly in societies with deeply rooted traditional norms. This study examined discrepancies between culturally inherited gender role ideologies and actual behavioural patterns within a diverse cohort involved in medical training and practice. Participants, aged 20–52, represented a wide range of clinical exposure, employment status and personal life circumstances, offering a complex sociocultural spectrum rather than a uniform academic group. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, participants provided written and oral reflections on widely known Romanian gender role axioms. Results revealed endorsement of traditional beliefs—like male authority and female domestic responsibility—yet these convictions frequently contrasted with participants’ lived behaviours, including women serving as primary earners, engaging in advanced studies and balancing multiple roles, and men in caregiving professions. This misalignment suggests unconscious bias and limited self-awareness of one’s own nonconforming practices. These discrepancies have implications for clinical care, as rigid gender role beliefs may influence communication, empathy, the ability to provide equitable healthcare to gender-diverse patients. Findings indicate the need for structured gender-diversity education, reflexivity training and cultural competence development across medical curricula, workplace settings and continuing professional education. Overall, the study demonstrates how traditional gender representations persist despite behavioural change, potentially shaping healthcare attitudes and reinforcing bias unless explicitly addressed.