Career stories of becoming a woman surgeon in male-dominated fields in Türkiye

OpenAlex İngilizce

The purpose of this study was to examine the career development stories of Turkish women surgeons working in male-dominated fields. Using narrative inquiry, the data was collected following the timeline of experiences from early education to future job prospects as surgeons in male-dominated fields. The systems theory was also applied to understand how gender-based discrimination in the social and environmental-societal systems interacted with the individual system of personality traits, characteristics, skills, and abilities. The findings showed that experiences of gender discrimination escalated and gender stereotypical messages intensified as the women progressed in their career from medical school to becoming a surgeons in male-dominated fields. The stories uncovered gender-specific difficulties such as pressure to choose a different practice, prejudices, discrimination, power imbalance, and being exposed to violence in the workplace, leaving them burnt out and/or skeptical of their futures in the field. The results suggested urgent need for career support programs during medical school and in the workplace for women surgeons in Türkiye to achieve equality in their profession.