Female Attendings in University Clinics of Surgery in Germany: A Scoping Analysis of an Ongoing Disparity

Abstract

Introduction: Gender-based discrimination, particularly in healthcare, affects women’s roles and opportunities, including in surgery where they remain underrepresented in leadership positions. The extent to which such discrimination is prevalent in attending positions is unclear.Methods: The publicly available records of 48 universities and university-associated hospitals in Germany were extracted to quantify gender ratios among attending surgeons and head surgeons in the fields of visceral, vascular, cardiac, thoracic, pediatric, orofacial, neuro-, trauma, and plastic surgery. Statistical analysis, including Chi-Square tests and Student’s t-test, was used to analyze the data.Results: Among the 367 department heads, 353 (96.2%) were male and 14 (3.8%) were female. Among the 2,366 attendings, 1,854 (78.4%) were men and 512 (21.6%) were women. These differences were significant (χ²=64.95, p<0.001, odds ratio=0.14, 95% confidence interval=0.08-0.25). Departments being led by a female department head were not more likely to employ female attendings (χ²=0.379, p=0.538, odds ratio=1.17, 95% confidence interval=0.70-1.96).Conclusion: German surgical departments in University Hospitals have significant gender disparities, with women underrepresented at higher levels. This may negatively affect patient outcomes. To tackle the problem, further research is needed to fully understand the issue.