Journal of surgical education
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This study aimed to evaluate the proportion and characteristics of women who serve in general surgery program director (PD) and associate program director (APD) positions in the United States. ⋯ Among general surgery program directorship, men continue to hold more positions of educational leadership, although the trend appears to be shifting toward a more equal balance, particularly in those programs with proportionately more women faculty. This discrepancy may be due to academic rank or length of tenure. As more women hold academic positions in the field of general surgery, an increase in the representation of this group in leadership is anticipated. Although senior leadership (PD) positions remain disproportionately held by men, APD positions are filled by a greater percentage of women than academic surgical faculty, although the absolute percentage remains less than 50%. Educational leadership may be a viable path to academic leadership for both women and men.