Career satisfaction in women surgeons: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Career satisfaction among women surgeons have been well-reported in literature. This study provides a comprehensive review to understand career satisfaction and its contributory factors among female surgeons.

PRISMA guidelines were utilized to extract studies for systematic review and meta-analysis. Outcomes assessed included surgical career satisfaction, career reconsideration, work-life balance, and gender bias and discrimination (GBD). Odds ratios were calculated comparing women to men for each outcome.

This study demonstrated that female surgeons were less likely to endorse overall career satisfaction (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.55-0.85) and work-life balance satisfaction (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.40-0.92) compared to male surgeons. It also revealed that women surgeons were more likely to report workplace GBD (OR, 13.82; 95% CI, 4.37-43.65).

Future interventions may be necessary to increase career and work-life balance satisfaction among women surgeons while reconciling the need to ensure they are adequately informed of the obligations of a surgical career.