Learn about the types of people who become surgeons. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2023
81% of surgeons work in full-time roles while 19% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2023
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a surgeon. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming surgeons at a ratio of 0.99 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2023
69% of surgeons are female and 31% are male.
Gender Bias, 2023
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a surgeon 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 surgeon and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more men interested in becoming a surgeon 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 surgeons are White, making up 34% of the population. The next highest segments are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish and South Asian, making up 22% and 14% respectively.