Medical students' opinions on women pursuing a career in neurosurgery in Türkiye: a cross-sectional survey at a single center

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Neurosurgery is lagging behind other surgical subspecialties in the recruitment of a more diverse physician workforce. The objective of this study was to explore the positive and negative factors affecting women's choice to pursue a career in neurosurgery. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire comprising 13 Likert-type questions was used to conduct this crosssectional survey of medical students. RESULTS: A total of 266 medical students (147 females, 119 males) completed the questionnaire. Fewer female students (38%) than male students (45%) indicated that neurosurgery is a demanding specialty for women (P < 0.05). Furthermore, while 46% of the female students indicated that women face inequality in neurosurgery, only 20% of their male counterparts agreed with this statement (P< 0.001). In addition, 78% of the females disagreed with the assertion that women's physical endurance is insufficient for neurosurgery, but only 53% of the men expressed the same views (P < 0.001). Twenty-three percent of the male students and 29% of the female students perceived the prevalence of a boys' club mentality in neurosurgery (P < 0.05). Moreover, 35% of the female students agreed that female neurosurgeons experience the glass ceiling syndrome, while only 18% of the male students held this opinion (P< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that students- regardless of gender-strongly believe neurosurgery residency training affects women's family lives more negatively than men's. While most participants rejected the idea that women lack the physical endurance for neurosurgery, female students perceived a glass ceiling and gender inequality in the field.