Gender and ethnic diversity in academic general surgery department leadership

Kassam, Al‐Faraaz; Taylor, Meredith; Cortez, Alexander R.; Winer, Leah K.; Quillin, Ralph C.

doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.11.046

Cited by 72 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Barriers to gender equity also exist at the leadership level with the Canadian surgical specialties. Our study shows that men predominantly hold leadership positions amongst surgical faculty, and that this holds true across all specialties and universities, which mirrors findings of smaller specialty specific studies in the literature [ 64 ]. It also mirrors work published by our international colleagues showing that women are underrepresented in medical leadership in the EU, Australia/Oceania and all over North America [ 17 , 18 , 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…This study joins others among surgical subspecialties in highlighting ongoing gender disparity with regards to women surgeons within academia [ 32 – 37 , 40 , 41 , 43 – 48 , 51 , 52 , 54 – 58 , 64 ]. While our investigation highlights the current Canadian environment, the themes of ongoing gender disparity are not isolated to this country; with specific studies noting that inequities exist in Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery and General surgery across North America, the EU and Oceania [ 39 , 45 , 46 , 65 , 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

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Gender imbalance amongst promotion and leadership in academic surgical programs in Canada: A cross-sectional Investigation

et al. 2021

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Background Women are underrepresented at higher levels of promotion or leadership despite the increasing number of women physicians. In surgery, this has been compounded by historical underrepresentation. With a nation-wide focus on the importance of diversity, our aim was to provide a current snapshot of gender representation in Canadian universities. Methods This cross-sectional online website review assessed the current faculty listings for 17 university-affiliated academic surgical training departments across Canada in the 2019/2020 academic year. Gender diversity of academic surgical faculty was assessed across surgical disciplines. Additionally, gender diversity in career advancement, as described by published leadership roles, promotion and faculty appointment, was analyzed. Results Women surgeons are underrepresented across Canadian surgical specialties (totals: 2,689 men versus 531 women). There are significant differences in the gender representation of surgeons between specialties and between universities, regardless of specialty. Women surgeons had a much lower likelihood of being at the highest levels of promotion (OR: 0.269, 95% CI: 0.179–0.405). Men surgeons were statistically more likely to hold academic leadership positions than women (p = 0.0002). Women surgeons had a much lower likelihood of being at the highest levels of leadership (OR: 0.372, 95% CI: 0.216–0.641). Discussion This study demonstrates that women surgeons are significantly underrepresented at the highest levels of academic promotion and leadership in Canada. Our findings allow for a direct comparison between Canadian surgical subspecialties and universities. Individual institutions can use these data to critically appraise diversity policies already in place, assess their workforce and apply a metric from which change can be measured.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Gender imbalance amongst promotion and leadership in academic surgical programs in Canada: A cross-sectional Investigation

et al. 2021

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“…No matter how enlightened we might believe ourselves to be as individuals or a group of professionals, the internal environment of surgery departments is not a safe harbor from the racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other prejudices that swirl through our broader society in these turbulent times. 11 Surgical departments and healthcare organizations are hierarchical and have been historically dominated by majority white men who have continued to disproportionately occupy leadership positions. It is, perhaps, inevitable that unconscious and conscious bias will surface during some fraction of the many daily complex interactions that occur between colleagues, between individuals on different rungs of matrixed hierarchical ladders, among caregivers, and between providers and patients.…”

Section: Walking the Walk On Dei Within Surgical Departmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral determinants of health: An overview of disparities in healthcare

Matthews

2021

Journal of Vascular Surgery

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Healthcare disparities are a serious problem that shorten the lives of many Americans, even after accounting for social, cultural, and economic factors and correcting for confounders such as the lack of medical insurance and access to healthcare, black Americans and other minority groups receive worse medical care and experience worse outcomes as a result. Healthcare does not occur in a vacuum; surgeons cannot serve our patients' needs isolated in a bubble and cocooned from larger societal concerns. Although disparities rooted in race likely have the greatest negative effects on our patients' health, plenty of groups exist that have not historically received equal opportunities and acceptance within the surgical world. Despite now accounting for more than one half of all medical graduates, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions, and the gender pay gap has remained significant in all branches of medicine. It will require active, multifaceted, and sustained effort to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic surgery. We have described the steps that can be taken within surgical departments and in national surgical societies to recruit, retain, and foster a diverse surgical workforce and to develop a more inclusive culture within surgery and surgical training.

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“…In some economies, however, unionization rates are very low making this solution less realizable than it was in the past. In these cases, the role of corporate leadership in these types of organization takes on a high level of importance (48,49).…”

Section: Developing Local Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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2021

JVT

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Gender and ethnic diversity in academic general surgery department leadership

Cited by 72 publications

References 34 publications

Gender imbalance amongst promotion and leadership in academic surgical programs in Canada: A cross-sectional Investigation

Gender imbalance amongst promotion and leadership in academic surgical programs in Canada: A cross-sectional Investigation

Moral determinants of health: An overview of disparities in healthcare

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