Equity Beyond Entry: A Capability Approach to Understanding Widening Participation in Medical Education.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Widening participation aims to promote equity in medical education and build a more diverse healthcare workforce. Despite ongoing efforts, systemic inequities persist in shaping students' trajectories. This study explores how widening participation students experience medical education, examining the factors that enable or constrain their success across the continuum of entry and progression. It offers a novel contribution by applying the capability approach to explore the conditions that influence students' freedoms to pursue valued outcomes.

Methods

This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews with 16 medical students from widening participation backgrounds in Scotland. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and interpreted through

SUBMITTER: Simpson A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12662159 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature