Is There Color or Gender Behind the Mask and Sterile Blue? Examining Gender and Racial Demographics within Academic Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The lack of underrepresented minorities (URM) has been a persistent issue within the surgical workforce. Equal gender representation has also been a problem in surgery. URM females face the unique challenge of being a minority in both race and gender.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this retrospective cross-sectional study is to determine the racial and gender demographics of medical trainees and faculty and determine the degree to which minority women are underrepresented at higher ranks and leadership.

METHODS: Race and gender demographic data for all medical students, surgical residents and faculty was extracted from the AAMC data files. This data was compared to the U.S. population using chi squared tests. Race and gender breakdowns of the different surgical subspecialties was also analyzed using chi squared tests. Demographics of surgical faculty at various ranks are also reported.

RESULTS: White men made up 37% of all surgical residents. Black men made up only 1.9% of all surgical residents while Black women made up 2.6%. The subspecialty with the smallest percentage of Black women was Orthopedic Surgery with 0.6%. The specialty with the highest representation of Black women was Ob/Gyn with 6.2%. There was a decrease in representation of Black women with each increase in professional rank, with 2.8%, 1.6% and 0.7% for assistant, associate and full professor respectively, as compared to Black men, who as a percentage, remained stable at the various ranks with 2.1%, 2.4% and 2.1% for assistant, associate and full professor respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a striking lack of minority women in surgery. This trend is amplified as surgeons progress from student, to resident, to attending, and then to leadership positions.