What deters women from pursuing careers in interventional radiology: Factors associated with medical trainees decisions to pursue careers in IR

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the factors influencing a medical trainee's decision to pursue a career in Interventional Radiology (IR), and thereby to inform strategies to support the recruitment and retention of women in IR.

Materials and methods

Between April and August 2018, a 20-item survey was sent to all members of the Society of Interventional Radiology's Resident, Fellow, and Student section (SIR-RFS). Survey-weighted logistic regression models were constructed to quantify the association between key survey items and gender. Odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were computed to summarize each association. False-discovery rate adjusted p-values were computed to account for multiple comparisons.

Results

The survey had 567 respondents, corresponding to a 21% response rate. 51% of respondents were medical students, and 49% were radiology residents and fellows. Women comprised 26% of respondents. Women respondents were less likely to be interested in pursuing careers in IR (OR 1.73; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09-2.75; p=0.021, p_FDR=0.104). Factors that women cited as deterrents to pursuing a career in IR included a desire to become pregnant (OR 4.80; 95%CI: 3.27-7.05; p/p_FDR<0.001), a concern for gender-related bias (OR 12.13; 95%CI: 8.01-18.38; p/p_FDR <0.001), a concern for ethnicity-related bias (OR 2.07; 95%CI: 1.38-3.09; p<0.001, p_FDR=0.004), a concern for sexual-orientation related bias (OR 1.75; 95%CI: 1.04-2.93, p=0.035, p_FDR=0.123), and lack of opportunity for professional advancement (OR 0.56; 95%CI: 0.38-0.84); p=0.006; p_FDR=0.039).

Conclusion

Women trainees are less interested in pursuing careers in IR, citing a desire to have kids and gender-related bias as leading deterrents. Implementing interventions that target these disincentives will help support the recruitment and retention of women in IR.