Women in Neurosurgery: Final Frontier of Career Women's Movement

Abstract

In the past, women in neurosurgery were deemed "less than a minority." Pioneering women entered neurosurgical residency programs alone, facing large obstacles to become surgical experts. Recent data suggest a stark increase in the number of women neurosurgical residents. As the field of neurosurgery attempts to increase numbers of women surgeons, it must also adjust workplace culture to embrace a new group of trainees. Here, we share an account of historical numbers, as well as evidence of a changing landscape within neurosurgery and suggestions of ways to modify workplace culture based on examples set in other career paths.

Keywords: Gender parity; Women in neurosurgery; Workplace culture.