Design: An anonymous cross-sectional survey was distributed using the Qualtrics electronic survey tool.

Setting: The survey was distributed to faculty and trainee members of an international gynecology society.

Patients or Participants: Gynecologic surgeons who identified as members of AAGL.

Interventions:

AAGL members received an email notice about the survey, the QR code was posted on social media and the survey link was available on the AAGL website September 2022 through March 2023. The survey included questions on demographics, attitudes, experiences, and sequelae regarding racial discrimination and bias in the workplace. Survey themes were generated based on prior reported surveys evaluating discrimination in surgeon groups and author consensus.

Frequency distributions and nonparametric tests were performed to compare responses between those who did and did not identify as underrepresented in medicine (URiM and non-URiM).

Measurements and Main Results:

Of the 286 responses, 145 (50.6%) completed the survey. Fifty-three (36.6%) identified as URiM, 84 as non-URiM (57.9%), and 8 (5.5%) preferred not to answer. Fifty-five questions were compared. The Bonferroni adjusted significant p-value was 0.0009. Most participants, regardless of URiM status (90.3%), thought racial discrimination was a problem in the workplace. Most URiM individuals experienced discrimination during their medical training and career vs. non-URiM (71.0% vs 23.6%, p<0.0001). URiM individuals were more likely to report observing avoidance of minority-persons by majority-persons in social settings in their training or workplace compared to their non-URiM counterparts (71.0% vs 34.8%, p<0.0001). URiM individuals felt unsafe bringing concerns about racism to all levels of leadership compared to their non-URiM (43.7% vs 13.1%, p<0.0002) colleagues.

Conclusion:

URiM individuals are more likely to observe discriminatory behaviors and are more likely to feel unsafe bringing concerns to leadership. Regardless of URiM status, racial discrimination is considered a problem. National organizations should prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.