Women in leadership positions in European neurosurgery - Have we broken the glass ceiling?
The proportion of male neurosurgeons has historically been higher than of women, although at least equal numbers of women have been entering European medical schools. The Diversity Committee (DC) of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) was founded recently to address this pheno...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Brain & spine 2023-01, Vol.3, p.101777, Article 101777 |
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Zusammenfassung: | The proportion of male neurosurgeons has historically been higher than of women, although at least equal numbers of women have been entering European medical schools. The Diversity Committee (DC) of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) was founded recently to address this phenomenon.
In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to characterize the status quo of female leadership by assessing the proportion of women heading European neurosurgical departments.
European neurosurgical departments were retrieved from the EANS repository. The gender of all department chairs was determined via departmental websites or by personal contact. The proportion of females was stratified by region and by type of hospital (university versus non-university).
A total of 41 (4.3%) female department chairs were identified in 961 neurosurgery departments in 41 European countries. Two thirds (68.3%) of European countries do not have a female neurosurgery chair. The highest proportion of female chairs was found in Northern Europe (11.1%), owing to four female chairs in a relatively small number of departments (n = 36). The proportions were considerably smaller in Western Europe (n = 17/312 (5.5%)), Southern Europe (n = 14/353 (4.0%)) and Central and Eastern Europe (n = 6/260 (2.3%)) (p = 0.06). The distribution of female chairs in university (n = 19 (46.3%)) versus non-university departments (n = 22 (53.7%)) was even.
There is a significant gender imbalance with 4% of all European neurosurgery departments headed by women. The DC intends to develop strategies to support equal chances and normalize the presence of female leaders in European neurosurgery.
•4% of neurosurgery departments in Europe are headed by women, without major regional differences.•Several reasons may contribute to the underrepresentation, including lack of female role models or childbirth and childcare.•The Diversity Committee of the EANS was founded to address the gender mismatch and develop balancing strategies. |
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ISSN: | 2772-5294 2772-5294 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.bas.2023.101777 |