Promoting Gender Equity in the #MeToo Era

Area of Science:

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Social Sciences

Background:

• The #MeToo movement has increased awareness of gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace.
• Gender discrimination and sexual harassment persist in medicine, particularly within surgical specialties.
• Unintended consequences of the #MeToo movement include male surgeons' reluctance to mentor female trainees and faculty due to fear of false accusations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address gender-based neglect and its detrimental impact on female surgeons' career advancement.
• To propose systemic strategies to foster gender equity in academic surgical training and the field of hand surgery.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of the impact of the #MeToo movement on mentorship in surgery.
• Review of existing literature on gender disparities in surgical specialties.
• Development of proposed systems-level interventions for promoting gender equity.

Main Results:

• The #MeToo movement, while raising awareness, has created a backlash affecting mentorship opportunities for female surgeons.
• Gender-based neglect hinders career progression for women in surgery.
• Existing gender inequalities in surgery are perpetuated by these mentorship barriers.

Conclusions:

• Addressing the reluctance in mentorship is crucial to counteract negative #MeToo impacts.
• Implementing systems-level strategies is essential for promoting gender equity in surgical training and practice.
• Achieving gender equity in hand surgery requires proactive interventions to support female surgeons' careers.