Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
World Neurosurgery, cilt.200, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: Neurosurgery is lagging behind other surgical subspecialties in the recruitment of a more diverse physician workforce. The objective of this study was to explore the positive and negative factors affecting women's choice to pursue a career in neurosurgery. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire comprising 13 Likert-type questions was used to conduct this cross-sectional survey of medical students. Results: A total of 266 medical students (147 females, 119 males) completed the questionnaire. Fewer female students (38%) than male students (45%) indicated that “neurosurgery is a demanding specialty for women” (P < 0.05). Furthermore, while 46% of the female students indicated that “women face inequality in neurosurgery,” only 20% of their male counterparts agreed with this statement (P < 0.001). In addition, 78% of the females disagreed with the assertion that women's physical endurance is insufficient for neurosurgery, but only 53% of the men expressed the same views (P < 0.001). Twenty-three percent of the male students and 29% of the female students perceived the prevalence of a boys' club mentality in neurosurgery (P < 0.05). Moreover, 35% of the female students agreed that female neurosurgeons experience the glass ceiling syndrome, while only 18% of the male students held this opinion (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study shows that students—regardless of gender—strongly believe neurosurgery residency training affects women's family lives more negatively than men's. While most participants rejected the idea that women lack the physical endurance for neurosurgery, female students perceived a glass ceiling and gender inequality in the field.