The State of Diversity Among Consultant Neurosurgeons in the United Kingdom: Open Science, Education and Academic Success

Abstract

It is important to have a diverse workforce in clinical and research environments. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the possible presence of gender, perceived skin color, education, academic productivity, and career progression inequalities among neurosurgeons in the United Kingdom. A list of all consultant neurosurgeons working in the United Kingdom (N= 384) was obtained from the Specialist Info website. Data about their education, research activity, academic productivity, impact, and progression were obtained from publicly available online sources. Over 90% of consultants and all full professors were men. There was a small number of black or brown consultant neurosurgeons and no black full professors. Very few black or brown consultants obtained their medical degree from a top university or had a PhD. There were no gender disparities in currently being affiliated with a university (or top university), obtaining a PhD or Master's degree, ranking of the university from which they obtained their medical degree, Master's degree or PhD, or number of pages and open access availability of their PhD thesis. Neurosurgeons who obtained their medical degree from the UK and those with a PhD had more publications, citations and a higher h-index. Male (vs. female) academic neurosurgeons had more publications, nonself-citations, and a higher h-index, and white (vs. brown) female neurosurgeons had more citations per paper. This study identified important gender, skin color, education, academic productivity, and career progression inequalities in the 2023 UK consultant neurosurgery workforce.