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Review
. 2021 Jan;13(1):439-447.
doi: 10.21037/jtd-2020-wts-09.

Women in thoracic surgery: European perspectives

Cecilia Pompili  1 , Giulia Veronesi  2   3 , Nuria M Novoa  4 , Maria Teresa Gomez-Hernandez  4 , Annabel J Sharkey  5 , Farah Bhatti  6   7 , Isabelle Opitz  8
Affiliations
Review

Women in thoracic surgery: European perspectives

Cecilia Pompili et al. J Thorac Dis. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

During the last decades, women have been discouraged from entering the medical career and in particular in the surgical specialties. This situation is changing across continents and national and international initiatives are supporting aspiring female surgeons in pursuing the surgical career through mentorship and fellowship programmes. Due to the differences in training programmes, Health Care systems and cultural backgrounds, it's not easy to describe unanimously the pathways and obstacles that junior female thoracic surgeons are experiencing in Europe. The development of female surgical associations, mentorship programmes and national initiatives will further champion the gender equality in this specialty across Europe. During the recent years, the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) has established initiatives like the first ESTS Women in Thoracic Surgery Scientific Session or the annual Women in Thoracic ESTS Reception during the Annual Conference, which are done in an effort to encourage all female colleagues to join this specialty and increase the opportunity to share their experience and meet potential mentors. In this article we will depict the situation in some of the European countries whose female thoracic surgeons have led their way. We aim to give the next generation the examples that can influence women's choice of surgical career, and the possible strategies and initiatives to reduce the gender discrimination within healthcare.

Keywords: Women surgeons; diversity; gender bias; gender equality; leaders; leadership development; mentor; mentorship; role model; thoracic surgery; women leadership.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jtd-2020-wts-09). The series “Women in Thoracic Surgery” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. CP served as an unpaid Guest Editor of the series and serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Journal of Thoracic Disease from Sept 2018 to Aug 2020. Dr. GV reports grants from Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), Ministry of Health, Istituto nazionale Assicurazione Infortuni sul Lavoro (INAIL), personal fees from Medtronic, personal fees from Ab Medica, personal fees from Johnson & Johnson, outside the submitted work. The other authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) female members.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The unadjusted gender pay gap, 2017 (difference between average gross hourly earnings of male and female employees as % of male gross earnings). Source: Eurostat (sdg_05_20).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of residents, staff surgeons, professors and director of divisions in Italy according to gender (survey of the Italian Society of Thoracic Surgery January 2020).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bilbao (Spain) 1998. Founding meeting of the Spanish Thoracic Surgeons Club.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The Leaky Pipeline shows the gender distribution on the different qualification levels. Gender Monitoring University of Zurich 2018 (15) (with kind permission of the Office for Gender Equality and Diversity).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Percentage of women and men per career stage in Switzerland in the STEM disciplines and the Life Sciences. Source: FSO, SIUS, own calculation. Data: 2016 (Source: SNSF multi-year programme 2021–2024, with kind permission).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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