Women in urology: what is their current situation in Spain?

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the current state of women in urology in Spain.

Material and methods: Descriptive study based on the results of an online survey sent between February and April 2020 through the database of the Residents and Young Urologists group (RAEU) of the Spanish Association of Urology (AEU). Characteristics of the survey and its results were analyzed.

Results: In total, 257 responses were obtained from 210 women (81.71%) and 47 men (18.29%) belonging to 111 hospitals. Statistically significant differences were observed (p < 0.001) with a higher proportion of men in all categories except for the group of young female and male attendings (29-39 years, p = 0.789), and the group of female residents against male residents (p = 0.814). The number of men was higher in hospitals with subspecialty units except for the Pelvic Floor Unit, where no statistically significant difference was observed (p = 0.06). Regarding positions of responsibility, only 7 out of 111 hospitals had female Department Chiefs.

Conclusions: Women's representation in urology is increasing, mainly due to the younger generations. However, the access of these women to relevant positions is anecdotal.

Keywords: Gender; Género; Medical residents; Mujeres; Médicos residentes; Urologist; Urology; Urología; Urólogas; Women.