Negotiation and Career Advancement: How Can We Continue to Advance Women in Academic Surgery, What Are the Barriers They Are Facing, and What Can We Do to Overcome Them?

Abstract

Despite increasing female representation in U.S. medical schools, women remain underrepresented in academic surgery departments across the country. Even as the gap narrows in academic surgery, female surgeons' professional advancement does not parallel that of their male counterparts. This article explores how to continue to advance women in academic surgery, first by considering the barriers women surgeons face, then offering actionable steps—on the individual, interpersonal, and systems levels—to overcome these barriers and work toward gender equity.

Keywords

gender disparity - diversity equity and inclusion - professional advancement - women in surgery

Publication History

Article published online:
24 March 2023

• References

• 1 AAMC. A first: women outnumber men in 2017 entering medical school class. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/first-women-outnumber-men-2017-entering-medical-school-class
• 2 AAMC. 2018-2019 The state of women in academic medicine: exploring pathways to equity. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/data/2018-2019-state-women-academic-medicine-exploring-pathways-equity
• 3 AAMC. The changing representation of men and women in academic medicine. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/analysis-brief/report/changing-representation-men-and-women-academic-medicine
• 4 AAMC. The long-term retention and attrition of U.S. medical school faculty. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/analysis-brief/report/long-term-retention-and-attrition-us-medical-school-faculty
• 5 Waljee JF, Chang KWC, Kim HM. et al. Gender disparities in academic practice. Plast Reconstr Surg 2015; 136 (03) 380e-387e
• 6 Ehrlich H, McKenney M, Elkbuli A. Gender distribution among surgical journals' editorial boards: maintaining momentum of equity. Surgery 2021; 170 (01) 347-348
• 7 Kerssens JJ, Bensing JM, Andela MG. Patient preference for genders of health professionals. Soc Sci Med 1997; 44 (10) 1531-1540
• 8 Berry C, Khabele D, Johnson-Mann C. et al. A call to action: Black/African American women surgeon scientists, where are they?. Ann Surg 2020; 272 (01) 24-29
• 9 Thompson-Burdine JA, Telem DA, Waljee JF. et al. Defining barriers and facilitators to advancement for women in academic surgery. JAMA Netw Open 2019; 2 (08) e1910228-e1910228
• 10 Gray K, Neville A, Kaji AH. et al. Career goals, salary expectations, and salary negotiation among male and female general surgery residents. JAMA Surg 2019; 154 (11) 1023-1029
• 11 Hirayama M, Fernando S. Organisational barriers to and facilitators for female surgeons' career progression: a systematic review. J R Soc Med 2018; 111 (09) 324-334
• 12 MWSC. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://mwsc.med.umich.edu/
• 13 The Michigan Promise | Surgery | Michigan Medicine. Surgery. Published July 20, 2017. Accessed September 24, 2022 at: https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/surgery/michigan-promise
• 14 HeForShe. Home page. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.heforshe.org/en
• 15 Michelle H. Moniz, M.D. - mentoring across differences. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d44xhxHogA
• 16 AWS. AWS Foundation Awards. Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://www.womensurgeons.org/page/Awards
• 17 Women's career development: what does this have to do with men? Accessed August 14, 2022 at: https://oce-ovid-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/article/00000658-201104000-00002/HTML
• 18 Guetter CR, McGuire KP, Oropallo AR. et al; AWS Publications Committee. Surgical job negotiations: how current literature and expert opinion can inform your strategies. Am J Surg 2020; 220 (05) 1201-1207
• 19 Fisher R, Ury W, Patton B. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin; 1991