826 Gender Equality in Neurosurgery and Strategic Goals Towards a More Balanced Workforce. (1st April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Plonsker, Jillian Hannah; Benzil, Deborah L.; Air, Ellen L.; Woodrow, Sarah; Stippler, Martina; Ben-Haim, Sharona
• Is Part Of: Neurosurgery. Volume 68(2022)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 140
• Page End: 140
• Publication Date: 2022-04-01
• Subjects: Nervous system -- Surgery -- Periodicals; 617.48005
• DOI: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000001880_826
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0148-396X

Abstract

Abstract : INTRODUCTION: The Women in Neurosurgery (WINS) published a white paper in 2008 setting a goal for women to comprise 20% of neurosurgery residents by 2012 and 20% of practicing neurosurgeons by 2020. There has been notable progress toward these benchmarks, but we ultimately fell short of their achievement. METHODS: A literature review was performed PubMed, Google Scholar, and published data from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and other society websites. to perform a thorough progress assessment. The combined expertise and experience of the authors was used to create new specific recommendations. RESULTS: There was an exponential increase in the number of female neurosurgical trainees in the past several decades, the percentage of female neurosurgery residents increased from 12.7% to 19.3%and the percentage of ABNS certified female neurosurgeons increased from 5% to 12% between 2010 and 2020. The total female authorship in Neurosurgery and Journal of Neurosurgery increased from 12 to 16.5% between 2003 and 2018, however there was no increase in senior authorship. Women were more likely to be published as first author with a female senior author than with a male senior author (30.4% v 14.1%). Systemic barriers identified include wage inequity of 10-25%, rampant sexual harassment, and barriers regarding parental leave policies. CONCLUSIONS: We propose the following updated recommendations. Neurosurgical departments and societies should make targeted effort to retain women in academic neurosurgery in order to foster mentorship opportunities. There must be explicit policies regarding sexual harassment, compensation equity, and parental leave. Finally, we propose new benchmarks of women comprising 30% of residents by 2030, and 30% of practicing neurosurgeons by 2040.