Gender Differences in Pediatric Orthopaedics: What Are the Implications for the Future Workforce?

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Surgical Workforce Diversity
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• Increasing number of women in surgical specialties necessitates research on gender's impact on practice.
• Understanding gender-based practice choices in pediatric orthopaedics is vital for future workforce planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• Examine gender associations with practice type, job selection reasons, salary, job offers, workload, and retirement plans among pediatric orthopaedic surgeons.
• Investigate gender disparities in practice characteristics and career opportunities within pediatric orthopaedics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2015 Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) Needs Assessment Survey and a special survey for recent fellowship graduates.
• Analyzed survey responses by gender, including practice type, job selection factors, salary, job offers, and call frequency.
• Employed chi-square and Fisher's exact tests to assess statistical significance of observed differences.

Main Results:

• Women new graduates are more likely to choose academic practice (72%) compared to men (48%), while men favor private practice (32% vs. 6%).
• Geography/family considerations were highly important for both genders, with men more frequently citing finances (52% vs. 28%).
• Women reported lower weekly surgical case volumes (10%) compared to men (26%).

Conclusions:

• Initial gender differences in practice characteristics and job opportunities exist among pediatric orthopaedic surgeons.
• The trend of women entering academic practice presents an opportunity to develop female leadership in pediatric orthopaedics.
• Further understanding of gender's impact is crucial as women's representation in the surgical workforce grows.