Krc Rebecca, Baniel Claire C, Lichter Katie, Jatar Simran, Peters Gabrielle W, Taswell Crystal Seldon, Ponce Sara Beltrán, MacDuffie Emily, LeCompte Michael C, Chen Jie Jane, Wang Kaidi, LoTemplio Amy, Saripalli Anjali, Kaya Erin, Barry Parul, Masters Adrianna Henson, Jagsi Reshma, Kahn Jenna M
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Pract Radiat Oncol. 2025 May 26. doi: 10.1016/j.prro.2025.05.005.
The Society for Women in Radiation Oncology (SWRO) was founded in 2017 with a mission to promote representation and gender equity in the field of radiation oncology (RO). We aimed to assess the current experiences of SWRO members 5 years after the founding of SWRO using a comprehensive survey of gender-related workforce issues.
From January to February 2023, an anonymous survey was distributed to all current SWRO members. Questions included demographics, family planning/fertility issues, perceptions of the field, and membership needs. Results pertaining to demographics, job satisfaction, mentorship, SWRO membership satisfaction, and future directions are reported in this analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize frequencies of the multiple-choice items on the survey.
The survey was distributed to 461 SWRO members, with a total of 144 responses, resulting in a response rate of 31.3%. The majority of respondents identified as female (96.5%), RO attending physicians (54.2%), located in the United States (76.4%), and with employment in either a private or community-based practice (50.7%). Top reasons for SWRO membership included networking (91%), leadership/professional development (83%), and mentorship (79%). After clinical responsibilities, insufficient institutional mentorship was cited as the second most common limitation to professional productivity, and only a minority of respondents (46.5%) reported being either "extremely" or "somewhat" satisfied with the current mentorship available to them at their current institution. A majority (69.3%) reported seeking female mentorship outside their current institution. Unwanted sexual comments, attention, or advances by superiors or colleagues were reported by 35.7% of respondents, and 53.6% reported either "strongly" or "somewhat" agreeing that gender-specific biases exist within their program.
This study highlights opportunities for improvement related to gender-based obstacles, education and advocacy, support of family-friendly culture shifts, mentorship, and increased physicist engagement which will ultimately promote representation, inclusivity, and gender equity in RO.
放射肿瘤学女性协会（SWRO）成立于2017年，其使命是促进放射肿瘤学（RO）领域的代表性和性别平等。我们旨在通过对与性别相关的劳动力问题进行全面调查，评估SWRO成立5年后其成员的当前经历。
2023年1月至2月，向所有现任SWRO成员发放了一份匿名调查问卷。问题包括人口统计学、计划生育/生育问题、对该领域的看法以及成员需求。本分析报告了与人口统计学、工作满意度、指导、SWRO成员满意度和未来方向相关的结果。描述性统计用于总结调查问卷中多项选择题的频率。
该调查问卷发放给了461名SWRO成员，共收到144份回复，回复率为31.3%。大多数受访者为女性（96.5%）、放射肿瘤学主治医生（54.2%）、位于美国（76.4%），且受雇于私立或社区医疗机构（50.7%）。加入SWRO的首要原因包括建立人际关系（91%）、领导力/职业发展（83%）和指导（79%）。在临床职责之后，机构指导不足被认为是职业生产力的第二大常见限制因素，只有少数受访者（46.5%）表示对其当前所在机构提供的现有指导“极其”或“ somewhat”满意。大多数人（69.3%）报告称在当前机构之外寻求女性指导。35.7%的受访者报告称受到上级或同事不必要的性评论、关注或示好，53.6%的受访者“强烈”或“ somewhat”同意其所在项目中存在性别偏见。
本研究突出了在基于性别的障碍、教育与宣传、支持有利于家庭的文化转变、指导以及增加物理学家参与度等方面有待改进的机会，这最终将促进放射肿瘤学领域的代表性、包容性和性别平等。
