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Surgery
Research
A woman’s place is in theatre: women’s perceptions and experiences of working in surgery from the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland women in surgery working group
  1. Maria Irene Bellini1,
  2. Yitka Graham2,3,
  3. Catherine Hayes2,
  4. Roxanna Zakeri4,
  5. Rowan Parks5,6,
  6. Vassilios Papalois1,7
  1. 1 Renal Transplant Directorate, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
  2. 2 Science Complex, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, Sunderland, UK
  3. 3 Directorate of General Surgery, Bariatric Surgical Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, Sunderland, UK
  4. 4 Department of General Surgery, University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
  5. 5 Directorate of General Surgery, Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Surgical Services Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  6. 6 Department of Clinical Surgery, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  7. 7 Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Maria Irene Bellini; mariairene.bellini{at}nhs.net

Abstract

Objective Surgery remains an inherently male-dominated profession. The aim of this study was to survey women working within the discipline, to understand their current perceptions, providing insight into their practical day-to-day lives, supporting an action-oriented change.

Design and setting The link to a confidential, online survey was distributed through the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter over a 2-week period in October 2017.

Participants Women working in surgical specialties and actively responding to the link shared through the ASGBI social media platforms. No patients were involved in the study.

Primary and secondary outcome measures Data were analysed through a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis was undertaken using a constant comparative analysis of the participants’ comments, to identify salient patterns (themes).

Results A total of 81 female participants replied (42% response rate based on the Facebook group members), with 88% (n=71) perceiving surgery as a male-dominated field. Over half had experienced discrimination (59%, n=47), while 22% (n=18) perceived a ‘glass ceiling’ in surgical training. Orthopaedics was reported as the most sexist surgical specialty by 53% (n=43). Accounts of gendered language in the workplace were reported by 59% (n=47), with 32% (n=25) of surveys participants having used it. Overall, a lack of formal mentorship, inflexibility towards part-time careers, gender stereotypes and poor work–life balance were the main perceived barriers for women in surgical careers.

Conclusion These findings highlight the implicit nature of the perceived discrimination that women report in their surgical careers. The ASGBI acknowledges these perceptual issues and relative implications as the first of many steps to create an action-oriented change by allowing all staff, regardless of gender, to reflect on their own behaviour, perceptions and the culture in which they work.

  • surgery
  • gender equity
  • surgical career
  • stem

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024349

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MIB designed the study, wrote the article, searched the literature and interpreted the data. CH and YG performed the analysis, wrote the article and interpreted the data. RZ wrote the article and interpreted the data. RP and VP conceptualised the study, wrote the article, interpreted the data and are the senior authors and executive of the ASGBI.

    • Funding This work was supported by the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Not required.

    • Ethics approval ASGBI Ethical Committee approved this study.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article.