Is Surgical Culture Changing?

As a new generation enters surgery and as the number of women in the field is (slowly) increasing, one could hope that this also changes surgical culture. But does it? Judith Belle Brown and colleagues asked themselves exactly this question and conducted an interview study with academic surgeons.

Despite the fact that women still reported more struggles to achieve a good work-life-balance, participants overall noted that surgical culture was indeed changing and that surgeons were no longer expected to devote every waking hour to their jobs. For example, one participant noted: “I think things have changed over the years…I mean surgery in the past has been you just work hard, this is your life, and I think it’s changing a little bit … you are allowed to have a life outside. I think that’s good.”

Moreover, participants stated that this change did not only affect attitudes towards work-life-balance in general, but also attitudes towards childcaring responsibilities. One surgeon said: “I think the younger male colleagues, like my generation, it’s a bit different. We’re seeing more and more male surgeons who are doing more stuff at home … and they’re also having to leave early to pick up their kids because their wife is working too… So it’s changing. It’s not like how it used to be, 20 or 30 years ago.”

So let’s hope that these changes prevail!

Why Do Women Leave Male-dominated Professions?

Concerns about childcare are an often cited reason for women to leave (or never enter) male-dominated fields such as surgery – and these concerns need to be addressed. However, a recent study by Nadya Fouad suggests that childcare concerns might not be the main culprit that drives women away.

In her survey with women who held engineering degrees the author found that most women who had left engineering had not done so in order to stay at home and raise a family but had rather left the industry to work someplace else. Moreover, the reason these women cited were very similar to those that men usually cite for leaving their jobs – inhospitable work climate and a lack of opportunities for career advancement (although caregiving responsibilities were also an often cited reason).

This demonstrates once again that leaving certain occupations is not due to some inherent lack of interest among women. On the contrary, women and men are looking for quite similar things in their careers – but men might just have an easier time achieving these goals in male-dominated fields.

The Effects of Perceived Gender Discrimination

Gender discrimination has obvious negative effects such as keeping women from rising to leadership positions or achieving equal pay. That alone should be enough reason to address these issues but there is also evidence that demonstrates the negative impact of perceived gender discrimination on women’s motivation – one of the key ingredients to high quality work.

Sharon Foley and colleagues investigated these issues in a sample of solicitors. Not surprisingly, they found that women perceived higher levels of gender bias against women and more personal gender discrimination compared to their male counterparts. This perceived personal gender discrimination was directly linked to two important motivational outcomes. First, it predicted solicitors’ organisational committment, and second, higher perceived gender discrimination was associated with higher intentions to leave the organisation.

This study shows how important gender equality is not just for its own sake but also for keeping women motivated and committed and ultimately ensuring that their talent and expertise is not lost.