More than half of female applicants have been asked inappropriate questions at orthopedic surgery residency interviews, according to a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
The study authors sent a questionnaire to all female orthopedic surgeons who had an email address in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' directory. Of the 997 invited female orthopedic surgeons, 488 completed the questionnaire. Participants were asked to describe any inappropriate questions they were asked during residency interviews.
Respondents' residency interviews occurred from 1971 to 2015. More than half — 61.7 percent — of respondents were asked an inappropriate question during an interview, and this rate did not change between 1971 and 2015.
The most common themes of inappropriate questions included:
- Raising children during residency — 37.9 percent
- Marital status — 32.4 percent
- Pregnancy during residency — 29.7 percent
Among the respondents who were asked an inappropriate question, only 1.4 percent reported the question to authorities.