Interest in cardiothoracic surgery: are women more interested today?

Abstract

Cardiothoracic surgery is one of the most gender-imbalanced specialties, with women representing less than 10% of the workforce worldwide. Despite a notable increase in recruitment and certification into the specialty in recent years, the disproportion is still notable and there is no expectation for that gap to be reduced in the next decades. Women in cardiothoracic surgery experience unique challenges such as inherited bias, discrimination, sexual misconduct, and extreme imbalance in work-life balance, especially around pregnancy and childcare. These challenges are not only important during recruitment into the specialty and training but continue throughout the whole surgical career. Despite recent efforts from surgical societies worldwide to augment women in cardiothoracic visibility and support, a lot of work is needed to facilitate the path for future generations.