Abstract
Purpose: To compare and discuss the gender disparities in the Orthopaedic specialty. Methods: We reviewed the literature to find the rates of women applying for an orthopaedic residency, fellowship, and academic career program, to understand the causes of the disparities in women in orthopaedics, and how this relates to orthopaedic surgical practice. Results: The idea that men and women are different and have different working styles and skills and the belief that males are more dominant and more status-worthy than females leads to gender barriers and stereotypes that restrict women from entering male-dominated specialties. It is important to mention that equivalent barriers restrict men from pursuing female-dominated specialties such as Gynecology. Economic disparities and gender stereotypes that divide medical specialties into masculine and feminine, creating a gender gap in health care are major concerns. However, the number of women in the health sector is expected to increase due to the growing amount of female students that are expected to soon graduate. A leadership gender gap also exists; although women consist of 70% of the health care workforce they occupy only 25% of leadership positions. Conclusion: The existence of gender-based disparities in healthcare is multifactorial. The explanation behind the existence of a so-called gender gap lies in organizational and individual factors. Early development and family relations, the decision between work and life balance, personal choices and interests, as well as working conditions, absence of role models and mentorship and institutional policies make gender disparities even more evident.
Highlights
To compare and discuss the gender disparities in the Orthopaedic specialty
Orthopaedic specialty has the lowest percentage of women residents (15.4%) and faculty of any other medical specialty [17,18,19]
In France, among 3553 orthopaedic surgeons, there were approximately 248 (7%) women in 2019; in Greece, among 2226 orthopaedic surgeons there were approximately 68 (3%) women in 2020; in Italy, among 4434 orthopaedic surgeons there are approximately 456 (10.2%) women at the time of this writing; and in Japan, women orthopaedic surgeons account for approximately 4% of all the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) members
Summary
Abstract – Purpose: To compare and discuss the gender disparities in the Orthopaedic specialty. Results: The idea that men and women are different and have different working styles and skills and the belief that males are more dominant and more status-worthy than females leads to gender barriers and stereotypes that restrict women from entering male-dominated specialties. It is important to mention that equivalent barriers restrict men from pursuing female-dominated specialties such as Gynecology. Economic disparities and gender stereotypes that divide medical specialties into masculine and feminine, creating a gender gap in health care are major concerns. The number of women in the health sector is expected to increase due to the growing amount of female students that are expected to soon graduate. A leadership gender gap exists; women consist of 70% of the health care workforce they occupy only 25% of leadership positions.
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