Female Medical Student Retention in Neurosurgery: A Multifaceted Approach

Dixon, Ashley; Silva, Nicole A.; Sotayo, Alaba; Mazzola, Catherine A.

doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2018.10.166

Cited by 69 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Mentoring plays a crucial role for all trainees, but it has been found to have a particularly strong impact on women, especially in male-dominated fields. [5][6][7] Female medical students are more likely to enter programs with a higher proportion of female residents. 6,7 Mentorship has also been shown to improve recruitment as well as retention of women into neurosurgery.…”

Section: Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women neurosurgeons around the world: a systematic review

Lulla

Hansen

Smith

et al. 2021

Neurosurgical Focus

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OBJECTIVEGender disparities in neurosurgery have persisted even as the number of female medical students in many countries has risen. An understanding of the current gender distribution of neurosurgeons around the world and the possible factors contributing to country-specific gender disparities is an important step in improving gender equity in the field.METHODSThe authors performed a systematic review of studies pertaining to women in neurosurgery. Papers listed in PubMed in the English language were collected. A modified grounded theory approach was utilized to systematically identify and code factors noted to contribute to gender disparities in neurosurgery. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows.RESULTSThe authors identified 39 studies describing the density of women neurosurgeons in particular regions, 18 of which documented the proportion of practicing female neurosurgeons in a single or in multiple countries. The majority of these studies were published within the last 5 years. Eight factors contributing to gender disparity were identified, including conference representation, the proverbial glass ceiling, lifestyle, mentoring, discrimination, interest, salary, and physical burden.CONCLUSIONSThe topic of women in neurosurgery has received considerable global scholarly attention. The worldwide proportion of female neurosurgeons varies by region and country. Mentorship was the most frequently cited factor contributing to noted gender differences, with lifestyle, the glass ceiling, and discrimination also frequently mentioned. Future studies are necessary to assess the influence of country-specific sociopolitical factors that push and pull individuals of all backgrounds to enter this field.

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Section: Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women neurosurgeons around the world: a systematic review

Lulla

Hansen

Smith

et al. 2021

Neurosurgical Focus

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“…[ 126 ] High income United States Qualitative analysis n = 143 (51/92) 36% Public sponsored 2019 Female Medical Student Retention in Neurosurgery: A Multifaceted Approach. [ 51 ] High income United States Questionnaire n = 104 100% Not reported 2019 Gender Bias Experiences of Female Surgical Trainees. [ 43 ] High income United States Mixed methods n = 48 100% University-sponsored 2018 A qualitative study on perceptions of surgical careers in Rwanda: A gender-based approach.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The experiences of female surgeons around the world: a scoping review

Xepoleas

Munabi²,

Auslander

et al. 2020

Hum Resour Health

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Introduction The Lancet Commission for Global Surgery identified an adequate surgical workforce as one indicator of surgical care accessibility. Many countries where women in surgery are underrepresented struggle to meet the recommended 20 surgeons per 100,000 population. We evaluated female surgeons’ experiences globally to identify strategies to increase surgical capacity through women. Methods Three database searches identified original studies examining female surgeon experiences. Countries were grouped using the World Bank income level and Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI). Results Of 12,914 studies meeting search criteria, 139 studies were included and examined populations from 26 countries. Of the accepted studies, 132 (95%) included populations from high-income countries (HICs) and 125 (90%) exclusively examined populations from the upper 50% of GGGI ranked countries. Country income and GGGI ranking did not independently predict gender equity in surgery. Female surgeons in low GGGI HIC (Japan) were limited by familial support, while those in low income, but high GGGI countries (Rwanda) were constrained by cultural attitudes about female education. Across all populations, lack of mentorship was seen as a career barrier. HIC studies demonstrate that establishing a critical mass of women in surgery encourages female students to enter surgery. In HICs, trainee abilities are reported as equal between genders. Yet, HIC women experience discrimination from male co-workers, strain from pregnancy and childcare commitments, and may suffer more negative health consequences. Female surgeon abilities were seen as inferior in lower income countries, but more child rearing support led to fewer women delaying childbearing during training compared to North Americans and Europeans. Conclusion The relationship between country income and GGGI is complex and neither independently predict gender equity. Cultural norms between geographic regions influence the variability of female surgeons’ experiences. More research is needed in lower income and low GGGI ranked countries to understand female surgeons’ experiences and promote gender equity in increasing the number of surgical providers.

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“…• and Competition with Mentee [38,45,50] • Gender Based Obstacles [38,40,46,48,[51][52][53][54] • Cultural Differences such as with Minority Groups [38,48] • Personality Conflict [33,45,46,50,55,56] • Misalignment of Goals [55] Host Organisation • Poor Recruitment and Recognition [33,50,57,58] • Lack of Clear Guidelines [59,60] • Poor Oversight and Lack of Assessment [44,53] • [3,70,71]. However, despite this diversity, the SSR in SEBA identified patterns and relationships amongst prevailing studies [25,26].…”

Section: Stage 4: Reiterative Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic scoping review of ethical issues in mentoring in medical schools

et al. 2020

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Background: Mentoring provides mentees and mentors with holistic support and research opportunities. Yet, the quality of this support has been called into question amidst suggestions that mentoring is prone to bullying and professional lapses. These concerns jeopardise mentoring's role in medical schools and demand closer scrutiny. Methods: To better understand prevailing concerns, a novel approach to systematic scoping reviews (SSR) s is proposed to map prevailing ethical issues in mentoring in an accountable and reproducible manner. Ten members of the research team carried out systematic and independent searches of PubMed, Embase, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Scopus, OpenGrey and Mednar databases. The individual researchers employed 'negotiated consensual validation' to determine the final list of articles to be analysed. The reviewers worked in three independent teams. One team summarised the included articles. The other teams employed independent thematic and content analysis respectively. The findings of the three approaches were compared. The themes from non-evidence based and grey literature were also compared with themes from research driven data. Results: Four thousand six titles were reviewed and 51 full text articles were included. Findings from thematic and content analyses were similar and reflected the tabulated summaries. The themes/categories identified were ethical concerns, predisposing factors and possible solutions at the mentor and mentee, mentoring relationship and/or host organisation level. Ethical concerns were found to stem from issues such as power differentials and lack of motivation whilst predisposing factors comprised of the mentor's lack of experience and personality conflicts. Possible solutions include better program oversight and the fostering of an effective mentoring environment. Conclusions: This structured SSR found that ethical issues in mentoring occur as a result of inconducive mentoring environments. As such, further studies and systematic reviews of mentoring structures, cultures and remediation must follow so as to guide host organisations in their endeavour to improve mentoring in medical schools.

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Female Medical Student Retention in Neurosurgery: A Multifaceted Approach

Cited by 69 publications

References 21 publications

Women neurosurgeons around the world: a systematic review

Women neurosurgeons around the world: a systematic review

The experiences of female surgeons around the world: a scoping review

A systematic scoping review of ethical issues in mentoring in medical schools

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