Opinion: When surgery becomes ‘women’s work’: the devaluation of gynecologic specialties
The collective abandonment by men of now female-dominated fields is, at least in part, because of the gender-specific stigma and wage penalty associated with working within a "feminine" occupation.
For much of the 20th century, the work of medicine in the U.S. was performed by predominantly male physicians. As women began entering medical schools in larger numbers during the 1970s, some specialties were welcoming to women, others weren’t.
Surgical specialties were particularly resistant to the inclusion of women, with the exception of obstetrics and gynecology. After decades of increasing percentages of women entering gynecology, the field became the first majority women surgical specialty in
