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Female representation among French orthopaedic surgeons: trends from 1999 to 2024 and projections toward gender
Vincent Bourbonne1, Victoria L'Hourre1, Cathal Moran2
1CHU de Brest, Boulevard Tanguy Prigent, 29200 Brest, France.
Background:
Orthopaedic and trauma surgery remains one of the most male-dominated medical specialties worldwide. In France, the extent and pace of feminisation among practicing orthopaedic surgeons, and whether progress differs between public and private practice, are not well quantified. We aimed to describe long-term trends in female representation among practicing orthopaedic and trauma surgeons in France and to estimate the time to gender parity overall and by practice modality.
Methods:
National workforce data were compiled for 1999-2011 from a French administrative physician registry and complemented for later years using national demographic reports from professional organisations when specialty-specific sex data were available (2014, 2016, 2023, 2024). Practice modality was analysed as pooled (all), private, and public; mixed public-private activity was classified as private. Annual proportions of women were modelled using linear, compound, and logistic approaches. Model performance was assessed using the coefficient of determination, root mean square error, and corrected Akaike information criterion; projections to 50% female representation were derived for each model and summarised using an ensemble average. Analyses were conducted with SPSS Statistics version 27.0, with statistical significance set at a p value < 0.05.
Results:
From 1999 to 2024, the total number of orthopaedic surgeons increased from 1,136 to 4,038, while the number of women increased from 33 to 426; female representation rose from 2.9% to 10.6%. In 2024, women represented 8.5% of private practitioners (2.2% in 1999) and 15.9% of public practitioners (2.8% in 1999). Across models, projected parity occurred later in private practice than in public practice. Ensemble estimates placed parity in 2060 overall, 2062 in private practice, and 2047 in public CONCLUSIONS: Female representation among French orthopaedic and trauma surgeons has increased substantially since 1999, but remains low, with persistent differences between public and private practice. Under current trajectories, parity is unlikely before the mid-21st century, supporting the need for targeted, measurable strategies to accelerate recruitment and retention, particularly in private practice.
Level Of Evidence:
IV; retrospective observational study.
