Negotiation and Career Advancement: How Can We Continue to Advance Women in Academic Surgery, What Are the Barriers They Are Facing, and What Can We Do to Overcome Them?

Despite increasing female representation in U.S. medical schools, women remain underrepresented in academic surgery departments across the country. Even as the gap narrows in academic surgery, female surgeons' professional advancement does not parallel that of their male counterparts. This article explores how to continue to advance women in academic surgery, first by considering the barriers women surgeons face, then offering actionable steps-on the individual, interpersonal, and systems levels-to overcome these barriers and work toward gender equity.