An Analysis of Gender Diversity in Urology in the UK and Ireland

Traditionally, surgery and certain surgical sub-specialities in particular have been predominantly male orientated. In recent years, there has been an increased proportion of female medical graduates which will ultimately have an effect on speciality choices. The aim of this study was to assess the gender diversity among urologists in the UK and Ireland. The total number and gender breakdown of consultant urologists and trainees in the UK and Ireland was obtained from the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and the Irish Society of Urology (ISU) membership offices. The total number and gender breakdown of medical school entrants and graduates in 2015 was obtained from the six medical schools in the Republic of Ireland. There are a total of 1,012 consultant urologists in the UK and Ireland. In the UK, 141 (14.6%) are female compared to four (8.2%) in Ireland, p= 0.531. There was a significant increase in the number of females between consultant urologists and trainees in both the UK (p=0.0001) and Ireland (p=0.015). In recent years, there has been a significant change in the percentage of female trainees in the UK and Ireland (22.8% (n=75) in 2011 vs 31.7% (n=93) in 2014, p=0.019. Between the six medical schools in Ireland, there were significantly more female entrants (n=726, 56.5%) than female graduates (n=521, 51.2%) in 2015, p=0.013.There has been a significant shift in gender diversity in urology in the UK and Ireland. Efforts to increase diversity should be pursued to attract further trainees to urology.