Gender Bias and Its Negative Impact on Cardiothoracic Surgery

In 1972 Congress passed Title IX, a law stating that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Almost 50 years after Title IX, women make up half of matriculating medical school classes, with 2017 marking the first year that the number of women starting medical school exceeded the number of men despite there being a higher percentage of male applicants. Unfortunately, the surgical workforce is not close to the gender parity that has been achieved within medical schools.