Introduction
Higher gender diversity has been shown to result in higher patient satisfaction, higher quality medical education, higher research productivity, and higher revenue.
Although gender diversity in spine surgery, a subspecialty of orthopedics and neurosurgery is known to be low worldwide, including Japan, there are few reports on the current status and future projections of gender diversity among the members of the Society.
This study aimed to quantitatively analyze changes in female membership in the Japanese Society of Spine Surgery and Related Research (JSSR) for orthopedic surgery and Neurospinal Society of Japan (NSJ) for neurosurgery over the past decade and make predictions of the future.
Methods
To verify information of membership (gender and age) from 2013 to 2022, an email was sent to the JSSR and NSJ offices. An ordinary least squares method was used to estimate the total number of years required for the JSSR and NSJ to achieve the 30% gender diversity goal, according to the critical mass theory. We used simple linear regression analyses to clarify the number of awomen in each years. The regression coefficient and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were regarded as the predicted annual increase (PAI). Each of the regression coefficient and 95% CI were regarded as the PAN for each consecutive year.
Results
In 2013, the percentages of women in JSSR and NSJ were 2.3% and 2.7%, respectively, with no significant difference. However, after 2018, the percentage of women in NSJ will significantly exceed that of JSSR, rising to 2.7% in JSSR and 4.7% in NSJ by 2022.
The percentage in the JSSR will hit the 30% gender diversity goal by 3148, which will require 1126 years of history starting from 2022 (PAI; 0.024, 95% CI; –0.012 to 0.061, p=0.061). Meanwhile, the NSJ will fulfill the goal of 30% gender diversity in 2123, 101 years after 2022 (PAI; 0.25, 95% CI; 0.212% to 0.288%, p<0.001)
Discussion
Although the number of female physicians in Japan has increased over the past several decades, with the number of female physicians under the age of 30 rising from 12.7% in 1980 to 36.2% in 2020, the number of female spine surgeons has increased only slightly over the past decade, not reflecting the increase in female physicians. It will take 101 years for NSJ and over 1,000 years for JSSR to reach the 30% gender diversity goal if the current rate of increase in women continues
Japan may soon face a shortage of spine surgeons overall as current spine surgeons age and retire. Issues that still need to be addressed in JSSR and NSJ include education about gender diversity and implicit gender bias, changing stereotypes about the surgical lifestyle, improving work-life balance, and diligent and collaborative efforts by the JSSR and NSJ as well as individuals and communities.