Freeman, Clara, Evans, Rebecca, Drever, Natalie, White, Jordy, Larkins, Sarah, and Morrey, Christopher (2025) Barriers and facilitators for female practitioners in orthopaedic training and practice: a scoping review. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 95 (4). pp. 647-657.

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Abstract

Background: Despite advances in medical education and professional opportunities, orthopaedic surgery remains the least gender-diverse medical specialty, with women significantly underrepresented globally. This scoping review aims to synthesize existing literature to provide a comprehensive overview of the barriers and facilitators encountered by females in orthopaedic surgery training and practice.

Methods: A comprehensive search of Medline (OVID), Scopus, Embase, Emcare, and CINAHL was performed from inception to 14 July 2024. Additional sources were identified via citation searching and Google Scholar. Any primary studies employing qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods approaches to explore barriers and facilitators experienced by female orthopaedic trainees and consultants in high-income countries. Quality analysis of included articles was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

Results: Seventy-nine studies met the inclusion criteria, involving over 100 000 participants between 1993 and 2024. Most studies were cross-sectional surveys. Sixty-eight barriers and 38 facilitators were identified. Analysis using the Socio-Ecological Model revealed the complex interplay of factors at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels. The largest proportion of barriers and facilitators resided at the organizational level.

Conclusion: This scoping review provides a comprehensive mapping of current evidence on barriers and facilitators for female practitioners in orthopaedic surgery training and practice. The findings suggest the need for multifaceted interventions to promote gender equity. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions and develop strategies to support women in orthopaedics, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

Item ID:	85543
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1445-2197
Keywords:	diversity; equity; female; inclusion; orthopaedic surgeons; orthopaedics; women; workforce diversity
Copyright Information:	© 2025 The Author(s). ANZ Journal of Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Date Deposited:	20 May 2025 21:47
FoR Codes:	32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320216 Orthopaedics @ 100%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200199 Clinical health not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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