Feminization of medicine: behind the figures, deceptive changes
Among general practitioners, in private practice, women are particularly visible. "If you came to our general meeting, you saw a room full of women and there are three presidents of private practice unions," says Agnès Giannotti, president of MG France, the majority representative body among private practice general practitioners.
Christine Louis-Vahdat, head of ethics and professional conduct at the National Council of the Order of Physicians, makes the same observation. "I'm an obstetrician-gynecologist, and there's a very clear feminization in the specialty, which often corresponds to patient expectations," she explains.
But Agnès Giannotti knows that the situation differs in "hospital hierarchies" and suggests "looking at whether the most remunerative activities, radiologists, surgeons, are not more male-dominated." Anna Boctor, president of the Young Doctors union, points out that "access to careers, and particularly prestigious careers, especially academic ones, is still too much reserved for men."
The data from the National Management Center (CNG) of the public hospital service are unequivocal for university professors and hospital practitioners (PU-PH): "The male preponderance is still observed (73.4% in 2025, compared to 74.4% in 2024 and 80.8% in 2016)." And in 2024, the CNG reported that "only 27%" of women were at the head of public establishments.
"The problem with hospital management positions is a bit like the problem with positions of power: look at government ministers or the leaders of the CAC 40, there is still a disproportion in favor of men," Sophie Bauer, president of the Union of Independent Doctors (SML), analyses for AFP.
Anna Boctor, however, focuses on a "co-optation" that is taking place "in the medical field, which is somewhat elitist." "The mentor, who is often a man, among the professors and committee chairs, chooses people who are somewhat like him." Sophie Bauer agrees, mentioning "a majority, still, of male doctors on the competition juries."
And if we talk about money, at the top of the pay scale for public hospital practitioners, only 31.4% are women, according to the CNG. From the 9th level (out of 13) on this scale, the lowest female contingents are in dentistry (6.7%) and surgery (7.5%), the same body also notes.
Surgery is "a male bastion," points out Serge Covaci, head of clinic at the Strasbourg Faculty of Medicine. "Basically, to become a good surgeon, you have to adopt masculine codes; we talk about hyper-virilization," explains this doctor, quoting sociologist Emmanuelle Zolesio, whose work focuses on "those, and especially women," who are ousted during "hard training."
"Things are changing. Orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, are becoming more feminine," counters Christine Louis-Vahdat. More generally, Anna Boctor denounces discrimination against women "at the time of motherhood." "I was a victim of it in my academic career. Meritocracy comes to an abrupt halt for women when we're kindly told that having children means choosing not to pursue a career."
