title: Perceived gender-based barriers to careers in academic surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Women represent roughly 50% of US medical students and one third of US surgery residents. Within academic surgery departments, however, women are disproportionately underrepresented, particularly at senior levels. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that female surgeons perceive different barriers to academic careers relative to their male colleagues.
  
  
  METHODS
  A modified version of the Career Barriers Inventory-Revised was administered to senior surgical residents and early-career surgical faculty members at 8 academic medical centers using an online survey tool. Likert-type scales were used to measure respondents' agreement with each survey item. Fisher's exact test was used to identify significant differences on the basis of gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents included 70 women (44 residents, 26 faculty members) and 84 men (41 residents, 43 faculty members). Women anticipated or perceived active discrimination in the form of being treated differently and experiencing negative comments about their sex, findings that differed notably from those for male counterparts. Sex-based negative attitudes inhibited the career aspirations of female surgeons. The presence of overt and implicit bias resulted in a sense that sex is a barrier to female surgeons' career development in academic surgery. No differences were observed between male and female respondents with regard to career preparation or structural barriers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Female academic surgeons experience challenges that are perceived to differ from their male counterparts. Women who participated in this study reported feeling excluded from the dominant culture in departments of surgery. This study may help guide transformative initiatives within academic surgery departments.
authors: Department of Surgery, University of Utah, 30 North 1900 East, SOM 3B313, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA. amalia.cochran@hsc.utah.edu
authors: Amalia
authors: A
authors: Cochran
authors: Tricia
authors: T
authors: Hauschild
authors: William B
authors: WB
authors: Elder
authors: Leigh A
authors: LA
authors: Neumayer
authors: Karen J
authors: KJ
authors: Brasel
authors: Marie L
authors: ML
authors: Crandall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D002322:Career Mobility; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D063507:Sexism / Q000208:ethnology; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Academic surgery; Career development; Education; Gender; Glass ceiling