Participant-perceived barriers to a career in surgery
| Barrier | Response, % (n) |
| Not a profession conducive with motherhood, family and children | 34 (28) |
| Childcare issues | 16(13) |
| ‘Old boys’ club/network | 16 (13) |
| Male attitudes/bias | 13 (11) |
| Culture of surgery as a masculine field | 12 (10) |
| Unconscious bias | 12 (10) |
| Lack of flexible/part-time training | 12 (10) |
| Unsocial hours/working patterns/rotas | 10 (8) |
| Perceptions by nurses and patients that women are not able to be surgeons | 7 (6) |
| Maternity leave/career break | 6 (5) |
| Women are excluded from ‘male-only’ social events | 6 (5) |
| Women less confident in their abilities | 5 (4) |
| Lack of female role models | 5 (4) |
| Men have more variety in surgical career choices | 5 (4) |
| Male surgeons behaving inappropriately | 4 (3) |
| Patients prefer male surgeons | 4 (3) |
| Image of female surgeons as being on par with a nurse | 2 (2) |
| Perceptions that women will want a less onerous career | 2 (2) |
| Social barriers | 2 (2) |
| Barriers are explicit, not hidden | 2 (2) |
| Lack of flexibility | 2 (2) |
| Women need to be seen as ruthless in order to succeed | 2 (2) |
| Women need to pull their weight like a man | 2 (2) |
| Hard for women to establish a private practice | (1) |
| Personal expectations | (1) |
| Historical/traditional expectations of women | (1) |
| No barriers | 4 (3) |
| Respondent skipped question | 7(6) |