Objective

There are limited data regarding the impact of gender within congenital heart surgery. Our aim was to assess gender-related experiences by surgeons in this field.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was emailed to practicing congenital heart surgeons to ascertain the perception of gender in 5 domains: training, professional career, clinical practice, personal life, and career outlook.

Results

The survey response rate was 94% (17/18) for women and 44% (112/257) for men. More than half of women (53%) were discouraged from pursuing congenital heart surgery (P < .001) and reported a negative impact of gender in attaining their first congenital heart surgery job (P < .001) compared with men. Despite similar demographics, women reported lower starting annual salaries ($150K-$250K vs $250K-$400K), lower current annual salaries ($500K-$750K vs $750K-$1M), lower academic ranks (clinical instructor 6% vs 4% [P = .045], assistant professor 35% vs 19% [P = .19], associate professor 41% vs 25% [P = .24], and professor 6% vs 41% [P = .005]) along with lower annual salaries at the associate professor ($500K-$750K vs $1M-$1.25M) and professor levels ($1M-$1.25M vs >$1.5M) compared with men. Sexual harassment was experienced more frequently by women both in training (65% vs 6%, P < .001) and in practice (65% and 4%, P < .001).

Conclusions

This survey highlights many areas of gender-related differences: discouragement due to gender to pursue congenital heart surgery, sexual harassment in training and practice, salary and academic rank differentials, negative gender perception at work, and lower career satisfaction for women. Despite various differences between both genders, the majority in each group would choose to enter this profession again as well as encourage others to do so.

中文翻译：

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性别对先天性心脏病手术的影响：一项全国调查的结果

客观的

关于先天性心脏病手术中性别影响的数据有限。我们的目的是评估该领域外科医生的性别相关经验。

方法

一项横断面调查通过电子邮件发送给执业先天性心脏病外科医生，以确定对性别在 5 个领域的看法：培训、职业生涯、临床实践、个人生活和职业前景。

结果

女性的调查回复率为 94% (17/18)，男性为 44% (112/257)。超过一半的女性 (53%) 对进行先天性心脏手术感到气馁 ( P < .001)，并报告说 与男性相比 ，性别对获得第一份先天性心脏手术工作有负面影响 ( P < .001)。尽管人口统计数据相似，但女性报告的起始年薪较低（15 万美元至 25 万美元对 25 万美元至 40 万美元），当前年薪较低（50 万美元至 75 万美元对 75 万美元至 100 万美元），较低的学术级别（临床讲师 6% vs 4% [ P  = .045]，助理教授 35% vs 19% [ P  = .19]，副教授 41% vs 25% [ P  = .24]，教授 6% vs 41% [ P = .005]）以及与男性相比，副教授的年薪较低（50 万美元至 75 万美元对 100 万美元至 125 万美元）和教授级别的年薪（100 万美元至 125 万美元对> 150 万美元）。女性在培训中（65% 对 6%， P  < .001）和实践中（65% 和 4%，P < .001）遭受性骚扰的频率更高 。

结论

这项调查突出了许多与性别相关的差异领域：由于性别原因而不愿进行先天性心脏病手术、培训和实践中的性骚扰、薪资和学术等级差异、工作中的负面性别观念以及女性较低的职业满意度。尽管男女之间存在各种差异，但每个群体中的大多数人都会选择再次从事这一职业，并鼓励其他人这样做。