Gender disparity in neurosurgery: A multinational survey on gender-related career satisfaction

Women continue to be underrepresented in the majority of surgical specialties, including neurosurgery.

In this multinational survey, we aimed to assess current gender disparities in neurosurgery focusing on job satisfaction and inequity/discrimination at work.

Female and male members of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies were asked to complete an electronic survey (Google Forms, Mountain View) containing demographic baseline data and questions on attitudes regarding gender disparity, personal experience with gender inequity and career satisfaction/work-life balance. Quantitative analyses were performed to analyse the responses, including summary and comparative statistics.

We received 168 responses from 40 different countries. Survey responders had a mean age of 40.8 ​± ​11.5 years; 29.8% were female. There were significant more male than female residents and attending surgeons per department. Eighty-eight percent of female and 38.1% of male responders experienced gender inequity or discrimination at work (adjusted OR 10.8, 95%CI 4.2-27.8, p<0.001). Female neurosurgeons were more likely to be discriminated by colleagues (aOR 4.32, 95%CI 2.1-9.1, p<0.001) and by patients/relatives (aOR 3.65, 95%CI 1.77-7.54, p<0.001). There was a trend towards lower job satisfaction (p=0.012), less satisfaction with career goals (p=0.035) and worse work-life balance (p=0.0021) in female surgeons.

This survey underlines that a significant proportion of neurosurgeons - in particular females - continue to experience gender inequity & discrimination at work, which may translate into lower work-related satisfaction. A better understanding of the gender-related aspects of job satisfaction is an important step to improving gender equity in our profession.