1Department of Neurosurgery, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Barcelona.
2Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona.
Neurosurg Focus. 2021 Mar;50(3):E6. doi: 10.3171/2020.12.FOCUS20911.
The percentage of women publishing high-impact neurosurgical research might be perceived as a representation of our specialty and may influence the perpetuation of the existing gender gap. This study investigated whether the trend in women taking lead roles in neurosurgical research has mirrored the increase in female neurosurgeons during the past decade and whether our most prestigious publications portray enough female role models to stimulate gender diversity among the new generation of neurosurgeons.
Two of the most prominent neurosurgical journals-Journal of Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery-were selected for this study, and every original article that was published in 2009 and 2019 in each of those journals was investigated according to the gender of the first and senior authors, their academic titles, their affiliations, and their institutions' region.
A total of 1328 articles were analyzed. The percentage of female authors was significantly higher in Europe and Russia compared with the US and Canada (first authors: 60/302 [19.9%] vs 109/829 [13.1%], p = 0.005; and senior authors: 32/302 [10.6%] vs 57/829 [6.9%], p = 0.040). Significantly increased female authorship was observed from 2009 to 2019, and overall numbers of both first and senior female authors almost doubled. However, when analyzing by regions, female authorship increased significantly only in the US and Canada. Female authors of neurosurgical research articles were significantly less likely to hold an MD degree compared with men. Female neurosurgeons serving as senior authors were represented in only 3.6% (48/1328) of articles. Women serving as senior authors were more likely to have a female colleague listed as the first author of their research (29/97 [29.9%] vs 155/1231 [12.6%]; χ2 = 22.561, p = 0.001).
Although this work showed an encouraging increase in the number of women publishing high-impact neurosurgical research, the stagnant trend in Europe may suggest that a glass ceiling has been reached and further advances in equity would require more aggressive measures. The differences in the researchers' profiles (academic title and affiliation) suggest an even wider gender gap. Cultural unconscious bias may explain why female senior authors have more than double the number of women serving as their junior authors compared with men. While changes in the workforce happen, strategies such as publishing specific issues on women, encouraging female editorials, and working toward more gender-balanced editorial boards may help our journals to portray a more equitable specialty that would not discourage bright female candidates.
发表高影响力神经外科研究的女性比例可能被视为我们专业的代表，并可能影响现有性别差距的持续存在。本研究调查了在过去十年中，女性在神经外科研究中担任领导角色的趋势是否反映了女性神经外科医生人数的增加，以及我们最负盛名的出版物是否有足够的女性榜样来激发新一代神经外科医生的性别多样性。
选择了两个最著名的神经外科期刊——《神经外科学杂志》和《神经外科学》，对 2009 年和 2019 年在这两个期刊上发表的每一篇原始文章，根据第一作者和资深作者的性别、学术头衔、所属机构和机构所在地区进行了调查。
共分析了 1328 篇文章。与美国和加拿大相比，欧洲和俄罗斯的女性作者比例明显更高（第一作者：60/302[19.9%] vs 109/829[13.1%]，p=0.005；资深作者：32/302[10.6%] vs 57/829[6.9%]，p=0.040）。从 2009 年到 2019 年，女性作者的比例显著增加，第一作者和资深作者的女性人数几乎翻了一番。然而，按地区分析时，只有美国和加拿大的女性作者比例显著增加。神经外科研究文章的女性作者获得医学博士学位的比例明显低于男性。担任资深作者的女性神经外科医生仅占文章的 3.6%（48/1328）。担任资深作者的女性更有可能有一位女性同事担任其研究的第一作者（29/97[29.9%] vs 155/1231[12.6%]；χ2=22.561，p=0.001）。
尽管这项工作显示出女性发表高影响力神经外科研究的数量令人鼓舞地增加，但欧洲停滞不前的趋势可能表明已经达到了天花板，要进一步提高公平性，需要采取更积极的措施。研究人员的专业背景（学术头衔和所属机构）的差异表明，性别差距更大。文化无意识偏见可以解释为什么女性资深作者的女性下属作者人数是男性的两倍多。虽然劳动力发生了变化，但出版关于女性的特定问题、鼓励女性社论以及努力实现性别更平衡的编辑委员会等策略可能有助于我们的期刊描绘出一个更公平的专业领域，而不会令聪明的女性候选人望而却步。
