Women in surgery: a web-based survey on career strategies and career satisfaction

Abstract

Women represent the majority of medical students in several countries. In any surgical specialty and above all in surgical leadership positions, women still remain disproportionally underrepresented. The objective of this study was to investigate female surgeons’ career advancement and satisfaction with training. A standardized questionnaire was devised and sent out via the web-based survey tool SurveyMonkey® to female surgeons in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. A total of 125 completed questionnaires were analyzed (response rate 40.8%). Female surgeons are at least largely (76%) satisfied with their surgical training. Increased time (>5 h/week) as the principal surgeon in the operating room significantly stimulates the satisfaction with the surgical training (86% vs. 68%, p = 0.0384). At the participants’ current workplace, the heads of departments are predominantly male surgeons (91%). Respondents not satisfied with their surgical training prefer a female head of department more frequently (24% vs. 2%, p = 0.0085). The majority of the respondents themselves aspire to become a consultant surgeon (56%), while only 12% intend to become a head of a department. Female surgeons aiming at leadership positions work overtime (≥50 h/week) significantly more frequently (81% vs. 57%, p = 0.0041). Favoritism of male colleagues is perceived by 34%. Respondents who do not perceive any preferential treatment are significantly more satisfied with their surgical training (88% vs. 57%, p = 0.0004). In conclusion, female surgeons seem positive about their career choice, once in the surgical profession, and aptly fill upcoming positions. Women interested in surgery are likely to pursue a surgical career despite the alleged workload, demonstrating the importance of professional self-fulfillment among female surgeons.

Hegemonic masculinity: representation of women surgeons in leadership positions in Pakistan

“…A study by Seeman et al (2016) reports balancing surgical careers with family commitments is a major source of stress (Seeman et al , 2016). Likewise, among Austrian women in leadership positions, it has been shown that inadequate help with child care has been a barrier to career advancement (Radunz et al , 2020).…”

“…Women make up more than half of medical doctors in several countries across the globe including the USA, the UK and Australia. Yet, despite gender equity in medical schools (Jena et al , 2015; Radunz et al , 2020; Sexton et al , 2012; Singh et al , 2020; Silver, 2018 and Silver et al , 2017; Temkin, 2020), there is a disparity in surgery and women remain disproportionally underrepresented in leadership positions in surgical specialties including professors, chairpersons or medical school deans (Battaglia et al , 2020; Burdine et al , 2019; Giuffrida et al , 2020; Keane et al , 2021; Olson, et al , 2021; Mueller, 2016; Sexton, 2012; Skinner et al , 2019; Yin et al , 2021). In the USA, studies have shown that 12% of Professors in academic surgery and 25% of surgical faculty are women (Battaglia et al , 2020).…”

“…Several reasons have been given for this under-representation of women in surgery including gender inequalities, glass ceiling (Keane et al , 2021), discrimination (Kerr, 2015), lack of female role models (Radunz et al , 2020; Rakestraw et al , 2020), a fewer number of publications (Giuffrida et al , 2020), barrier to hiring, gender-biased promotions (Fassiotto, 2018; Filiberto, 2019), lack of support and poorly structured residency (Singh et al , 2020). Moreover, it is usually perceived that female surgeons give priority to their families over their careers.…”

Career Strategies: Scoping Review

“…There is no common understanding of the term "career strategy" in existing studies. The authors consider a career strategy (1) as a plan of human actions that facilitate career building (Lyusova, Seredintseva & Glukhova, 2019); (2) as a desired position, but without certain steps to achieve it (Radunz et al, 2020); (3) the values of a person, based on which he chooses that or another profession, for example, because of a high status in society instead of a high salary (Kalyanova, 2019). Such differences in the approaches to the study of career strategies allows to consider the problems of career building from many directions, and at the same time researcher's different understanding of the term "career strategy" complicates the systematizing of existing knowledge.…”

Experiences and Perceptions of Gender Discrimination and Equality among Korean Surgeons: Results of a Survey of the Korean Surgical Society

“…The numbers and percentages of female medical students, physicians, surgical trainees, surgeons, and academics have been consistently increasing. 1 2 3 4 5 6 In Korea, women accounted for 38.7% of all graduates of the medical schools and the graduate schools of medicine in 2020, 7 and 22.8% of all physicians were female in 2018; however, only 8.9% of surgical physicians were women. 8 In the U.S., the Association of American Medical Colleges reported that 51% of all medical students in the U.S. were female in 2018, 9 and 35.2% of all active physicians were women in 2017, although they only accounted for 20.6% of surgeons.…”