CORR Insights®: Does the Proportion of Women in Orthopaedic Leadership Roles Reflect the Gender Composition of Specialty Societies?

Although women currently comprise of approximately half of all medical students, orthopaedic surgery has the lowest percentage of women residents of all medical specialties, at 14% in 2016-2017, which is up only slightly from 11% in 2005-2006 [3]. Several factors contribute to the continued gender disparity in orthopaedics, including medical students’ perceptions that the specialty is a physically demanding male-dominated field, beset with barriers to promotion and acceptance by senior faculty [2, 9]. A separate study surveying members of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS) found that challenges related to work-life balance and a lack of strong mentorship contributed to the reluctance of women medical students to enter the field [10]. In addition to having a low proportion of women overall, less than 9% of full professors in orthopaedic surgery are women, the lowest percentage among all surgical specialties [4]. Improving gender diversity in orthopaedics will not happen until more women move up through the ranks; that process has been perpetually stagnant [2]. In the current study, Saxena and colleagues [11] highlighted the disparities between the gender distribution in the membership of a large number of subspecialty societies, and the gender breakdowns of the boards of directors of those societies. The authors queried the executive directors in each of the 23 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Specialty Societies to determine the number and percentage of women members, the number of women on each society’s board of directors, the criteria for becoming a board member, and the presence or absence of a junior board member position (those younger than 45 years of age). The authors found a strong correlation between the percentage of women in a society and the percentage of women on the society’s board of directors [11]. The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America had the highest percentage of women members (26%), but did not have the highest percentage of women on its board of directors (3 out of 20). The Orthopaedic Research Society had the highest percentage of women on its board of directors (7 out of 16), but did not have the highest percentage of women members (25%). The authors found no correlation between the presence of a junior board member position and the percentage of women in an orthopaedic society or the percentage of women on the board of directors in a society [11].