Statistics gathered from department heads and national societies in Europe indicate that in the not-too-distant future, radiology departments will be staffed mostly by women.

The feminization of medicine is a well-known phenomenon. The average percentage of women entering medical school has reached 60% in Europe. In some European countries, including Sweden, Ireland, and Slovenia, the figure is closer to 70%.

Data gathered by the European Society Radiology (ESR) have now revealed the extent to which the gender balance in radiology is changing, too. Figures provided by 31 national radiological societies across Europe have shown that in most countries, radiologists-in-training are more likely to be women than men (see chart below).

The survey data were presented at ECR 2009 by Prof. Malgorzata Szczerbo- Trojanowska, chair of the radiology department at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland, and president of ECR 2010. A total of 39 societies were sent a questionnaire by the ESR asking specifically about the gender balance in radiology. Only eight did not reply.

The proportions of male and female specialists in radiology are, on average, 55% and 45%, respectively, according to the ESR's analysis of the figures. In eight of the countries surveyed, the percentage of male radiology specialists was given as 70% or higher (Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Albania, and Iceland, Malta, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Four countries reported that women already made up 70% or more of their specialist radiological workforce (Latvia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Ukraine, and Belarussia).

The statistics on radiologists-in-training offer a different picture altogether (see figure). Just six of the 31 respondents reported a higher percentage of male residents than female residents (U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Albania, Malta, and Iceland). Three indicated a 50-50 split (Sweden, Finland, and Poland), while the remainder revealed that women trainees outnumbered men. The relative proportions of male and female radiology residents came to 42% and 58%, respectively, when averaged across Europe as a whole.

With so many women entering radiology, working practices and attitudes may have to change if departments are to retain skilled female employees, delegates were told by a succession of speakers at the professional challenges session, “Women in radiology: how to maximize their potential.”

The term “leaky pipeline” is often used to describe a situation in which large numbers of women start out on a career path, but many drop out during or after training, and only a few ever make it to senior positions, said Dr. Majda Thurnher, an associate professor of radiology at the Medical University of Vienna. She illustrated this as a “reality pyramid” for radiology, with the proportion of women gradually falling from 60% (medical students) down to 5% (head of department). The number of women reaching senior positions at the Medical University of Vienna's radiology department is a case in point. The department has 49 residents (31 male, 18 female), three assistant professors (two male, one female), 27 associate professors (22 male, five female), and three full professors (all male).

Far fewer women than men are invited to speak at radiology conferences, Thurnher said. But this situation is changing, albeit slowly. None of the 15 invited lecturers at the 1998 European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) conference were women, whereas at the 2008 ESNR meeting, 56 of the invited speakers were men and five were women. Analysis of ECR data on invited speakers also shows a small but significant shift in favor of women.

Thurnher offered a snapshot of the gender balance in radiology today based on personal communications with a selection of department heads. Most radiology departments examined in her ad hoc survey reported a similar pattern: a higher proportion of women radiology residents than radiology faculty. For example, women make up 42% of radiology faculty at the University of Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron Hospital and 60% of radiology residents. The University Hospital MAS, in Malmö, Sweden, reported that 48% of its radiology faculty and 58% of its radiology residents were female.

Thurnher concluded her presentation by citing advice to aspirant career women taken from an article in The New York Times entitled: “Girl power in school but not the office.”

“We need to develop a thicker skin, we need to feel comfortable promoting ourselves, we need to learn how to negotiate, we have to stop being a perfectionist, and we need to create professional networks,” she said.