It is essential that the best and brightest are chosen to become surgeons, regardless of gender. With the development of modern surgical training in the early 20th century, the path of involvement and career development has been different for men and women.
The ACS has incorporated women into its membership since its inception in However, women comprised less than 2 percent of the College membership until This percentage was a direct reflection of the era, as only 2 percent of surgical residents in the U.
Until , women never comprised more than 6 percent of any medical school class in the U. In , 14 percent of U. Over the last 15 years, an increasing number of women have entered medicine and the surgical workforce. In , for the first time, more women than men were enrolled in medical school—a trend that continued in , with women representing the majority of both applicants and matriculants.
In , Although the number of women both in U. However, one area of growth has emerged—chair positions. In , only four women were chairs of surgery, yet by , 21 women were chairs in the U. S and two in Canada. Additional growth was realized in , with women representing 12 percent of professors, 21 percent of associate professors, and 29 percent of assistant professors. Since , an increase in the percentage of women as professors 31 percent , associate professors 19 percent , and assistant professors 9.
This ratio was similar to the composition of ACS Fellows at the time: Internationally, of the 41 respondents from countries outside the U. Further analysis revealed that women Governors were primarily younger than their male counterparts. For example, Is gender equality in the surgical profession an issue that needs attention? According to Additional analysis revealed this assessment differs greatly by gender see Table 2. Furthermore, Internationally, this statement was more divisive, with The Governors as a whole were fairly aligned on the question of whether men and women surgeons receive equal pay and promotion opportunities: Only In comparison, Most Figure 3.
Equal pay and promotion regardless of gender is adhered to in the surgical profession. Table 3. By gender: Equal pay and promotion regardless of gender is adhered to in the surgical profession. Most of the Governors Interestingly, only The results from the male respondents are in contrast to a recent publication from the AWS.
According to the AWS report, after controlling for specialty, age, faculty rank, and metrics of clinical and research productivity, women surgeons annually earn 8 percent less than men surgeons. The AWS report also revealed that pay disparity only widens over time, with women surgeons earning almost 90 percent of what their men counterparts are paid until age After age 35, median earnings for women surgeons drop to 82 percent of what men earn. The discrepancy between the Governors survey and the AWS report highlights the need for further evaluation and education on this topic.
Figure 4. Another area that needs further evaluation and improvement involves advocating for gender equality at the institutional level. Whereas Internationally, slightly more than half In the more northern countries, the problems were less about external day care, and more about the division of labour in the home: a lot seems to depend on who you choose to start a family with. But there is more going on than lack of financial and social support. Recent research suggests that, although we may like to think that the days of glass ceilings and job discrimination are over, women still face far more obstacles than men in reaching the surgical heights.
Trauma surgery and orthopaedics were identified as having the most sexist cultures by more than half of respondents. In the US, a recent survey of plastic surgeons revealed similar findings. Women were more likely than men to have experienced sexism or bias, and were less likely to feel recognised for ideas, authorship, promotions, or pay rises. Women also felt that their sex was a disadvantage in career advancement Plast Reconstr Surg , — As Isabel Rubio points out, role models are important here.
Her own mentor, Suzanne Klimberg, was an important influence during her US Fellowship — and afterwards. Seeing a woman who can achieve anything — give talks at big congresses, be president of societies, be chief of breast surgery — helped me a lot.
We can do it our own way and be just as good. Malin Sund agrees that role models help young female surgeons see a way of navigating the system. Until they become more common and visible, there may be problems making any ambition seem realistic. But she points to another problem continually pulling that kind of aspiration back.
The UEMS survey showed that women feel excluded from the male-dominated networks where promotions are unofficially discussed and decided. Facing such issues is key if women are to be properly represented in the highest echelons of cancer surgery, according to cancer surgeon Peter Naredi, Professor of Surgery at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden.
The qualitative research titled Why do women leave surgical training? It asked women to describe in-depth why they had chosen to leave surgical training soon after they had started it, despite having aspired to the profession since childhood. Women hone their skills in areas like executive presence, negotiation, and conflict resolution.
Among those steps are asking women to take on opportunities instead of assuming they will be too busy and creating structured interviews that clearly define job characteristics before automatically looking for men to fill the role. National organizations also are turning their attention to increasing the number of women in surgery.
Parangi points to groups like the American College of Surgeons, which boasts strong women leadership and has developed solutions and benchmarks toward addressing equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic surgery. Her own organization takes part in a range of initiatives to support women at all stages of their surgical careers, from a signature speaker series for midcareer professionals to a coaching program to help women surgeon trainees avoid burnout.
The association also works closely with the Society of Black Academic Surgeons SBAS to further their missions of bolstering diversity and inclusion in surgery. Berry chairs the committee for women in surgery at SBAS, which involves promoting the accomplishments of black women surgeons, writing them letters of recommendation, and connecting them to job opportunities and leadership positions.
Such support is especially important for black women and women of color in surgery, who are not well represented. And despite the longstanding challenges for women in surgery, those in the field encourage aspiring women surgeons to be steadfast in reaching their goals.
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