Women in neurosurgery in the United Kingdom: past, present and future

Whilst a growing number of women in the United Kingdom (UK) are making a success of a career in medicine as a whole, a considerable gender imbalance persists in neurosurgery. The extent of this disparity and the factors that perpetuate it are difficult to assess. Furthermore, over the 70 years since the first female neurosurgeon in the UK commenced her postgraduate training, it is difficult to gauge the progress that has been made. In this article we present a snapshot of women who have played, and who are playing, a key role in UK neurosurgery, highlighting their diverse career paths. We also present the current training distribution and subspecialties of women in UK neurosurgery. We use these data to reflect upon the possible barriers to completion of neurosurgical training, obtaining a substantive consultant position, and reaching positions of academic and clinical leadership. We discuss potential interventions that may overcome these. Highlighting the role women play in UK neurosurgery's past, present and future should inspire more female neurosurgeons to become leaders in the coming years.