Medical Student Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Introduction: Historically, neurosurgery has been dominated by men. Although this has improved, only 6% of the United States workforce, for example, are currently female. Understanding how gender impacts applicants may help improve support for the neurosurgical workforce, regardless of gender.
Methods: A survey evaluating the perceived effects of gender on pursuing neurosurgery was distributed to medical students and unspecialized residents in 8 countries.
Results: 894 responses (805 complete, 89 partial) were received. 443 trainees (51.1%) self-identified as female, and 3 (0.4%) self-identified as non-binary or undecided.
37.2% (n=308) of respondents reported that a person’s gender generally affected their ability to pursue a career in neurosurgery in their respective countries. 46.0% (n=379) of respondents overall considered being a woman a disadvantage, compared to 16.1% (n=133) who considered it an advantage. 55.5% (n=229) of females viewed being a woman as a disadvantage, compared to 36.8% (n=141) of males (p= < 0.0001). 11.4% (n=47) of females viewed being a woman as an advantage, compared to 19.1% (n=73) of males (p= < 0.0001).
Only 4.2% (n=34) of respondents considered being a man a disadvantage, compared to 54.8% (n=444) who considered it an advantage. 61.8% (n=251) of females versus 46.3% (n=174) of males considered being a man an advantage, and twice as many females (21.2%, n=86) as males (10.9%, n=41) considered being a man an extreme advantage (p= < 0.0001).
40.5% (n=317) of respondents viewed being non-binary as a disadvantage while only 8.4% (n=66) viewed it as an advantage. While 53.7% (n=418) of respondents viewed being transgender as a disadvantage, only 6.3% (n=49) viewed it as an advantage.
Conclusion : Overall, trainees considered being a man more advantageous than being a woman when pursuing neurosurgery. However, the findings varied by gender. Further research is warranted to understand how to ameliorate perceived disadvantages associated with pursuing neurosurgery as an individual of an underrepresented gender.
