Obstacles and Opportunities of Pursuing a Career of a Surgeon for a Female Physician in Kazakhstan: A Qualitative Research Study

Abstract

An important factor to consider the effectiveness of a healthcare workforce is a gender balance. A gender imbalance in an organizational structure can lead to poor performance of a health service organization. Determinants of women being underrepresented in a health service organization are discrimination, sexism, stereotyping, glass ceiling phenomenon, and inability to manage job and family. Though Kazakhstan is considered to be rated highly for human development, women are underrepresented in such medical specialties as surgery. To our knowledge, there have been no studies conducted on obstacles and opportunities for careers of women in medicine, specifically in surgery, in Kazakhstan.