Learn about the types of people who become neurosurgeons. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2025
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a neurosurgeon. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming neurosurgeons at a ratio of 1.25 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2025
68% of neurosurgeons are female and 32% are male.
Gender Bias, 2025
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a neurosurgeon and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a neurosurgeon and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are significantly more men interested in becoming a neurosurgeon than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of neurosurgeons are White, making up 39% of the population. The next highest segments are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish and Black or African American, making up 21% and 12% respectively.