Gender Disparity in Academic Neurosurgery

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Medical Education
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• While women now constitute nearly half of medical school graduates, a significant gender gap persists in specialized fields.
• Surgical subspecialties, particularly neurosurgery, show a pronounced underrepresentation of women compared to general medical fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate factors influencing the disparity in academic ranks between male and female neurosurgery staff.
• To analyze the representation of women in leadership and academic positions within Canadian and US neurosurgery programs.

Main Methods:

• Compiled a comprehensive database of neurosurgeons in the US and Canada using FREIDA, ACGME, CaRMS, PubMed, and Scopus.
• Analyzed neurosurgeons' academic ranks, leadership roles, publication counts, citation metrics, and H-index.
• Included neurosurgeons across all academic and leadership levels for a thorough gender-based analysis.

Main Results:

• Women constitute only 12% of neurosurgeons in the US and Canada.
• Female representation decreases significantly at higher academic levels, with only 5.84% at the full professor rank.
• Women hold a disproportionately small percentage of leadership positions (7.45% first-in-command, 4.69% second-in-command).

Conclusions:

• Women are substantially underrepresented in academic neurosurgery.
• Potential contributing factors include a lack of role models, limited experience, reduced scientific output, and lifestyle considerations.