Women in leadership positions in European neurosurgery - Have we broken the glass ceiling?
Brain Spine
; 3: 101777, 2023.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37701290
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
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. Research question 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. Material andmethods:
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).Results:
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. Discussion andConclusion:
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.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Brain Spine
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: