Gender representation across surgical specialties in Malaysia

Although female enrolment exceeds 50% in many undergraduate medical programmes worldwide, surgeons remain overwhelmingly male despite studies reporting better outcomes by female surgeons. We aimed to characterise gender representation across surgical specialties in Malaysia.

We performed a cross-sectional study, extracting data of all surgical specialties from the Malaysian Specialist Register up to 30th September 2023. Gender proportions were assessed using the UNESCO Gender Parity Index (GPI), GPI<1 indicating fewer females. Gender parity was considered present at GPI 0.97-1.03. Disparities were categorised as extreme (<0.5,>1.5), intermediate (0.5-0.89, 1.11-1.5), and close to parity (0.9- 0.96,1.04-1.1). Number of years post-specialisation for each surgeon were calculated.

5236 surgeons were included. Only one specialty (Obstetrics & Gynaecology, GPI=1.03) showed parity and two specialties (Breast & Endocrine, GPI 2.67 and Ophthalmology, GPI 1.27) had more female surgeons. The other thirteen specialties showed various degrees of male predominance. Most GPI values trended higher when younger surgeons were included in the calculation, indicating greater female representation in recent years.

Most surgical specialties in Malaysia show extreme gender inequity. Further work is needed to identify root causes and improve trends. Future efforts should further examine gender disparities and strengthen measures such as mentorship, supportive policies, transparent processes, and inclusive cultures, to advance equity in surgery.