A new survey by the Confederation of British Surgery (CBS) has identified continuing gender bias in surgical disciplines. The feedback suggests that women face barriers that men do not. In this article, the surgical trade union comments on the latest findings and calls on the surgical community to take action.
The stats should startle, but sadly they are not unexpected. The Confederation of British Surgery's survey about gender bias specific to surgery was distributed to everyone from med students to established consultants. The findings highlight how women are still being told that their gender will hinder their ability to pursue a surgical career.
77.78% of female respondents reported that, yes, they have experienced this particular misogyny; 71.43% explicitly told they were the wrong gender for the profession — at some point in their career. To put this in context, zero percent of men reported experiencing any gender bias whatsoever during their navigation of the same landscape. What does this show us? It demonstrates that, while progress has been made in promoting equity and equality in the workplace in general, we still have a way to go when it comes to surgical careers specifically.
Consultant plastic surgeon and Board member at the Confederation of British Surgery, Miss Philippa Jackson, says, "There's this constant scrutiny over women's lives that men simply don't face. I've had people ask me about my menstrual cycle, about when I planned to have children, how many, and how I'd manage that alongside my career, as if it's anyone's business."
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