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We discuss common findings of the two most recent surveys on gender issues among anaesthesiologists. One survey was conducted in Europe and the other included respondents from 111 countries worldwide. With almost 15,000 combined respondents, these are the largest surveys to date in the field and the key overlapping findings must be pointed out. Women anaesthesiologists do aspire to leadership roles while facing multiple sources of gender discrimination present at their workplace. Yet, encouragingly, the discrimination towards women anaesthesiologists is perceived to be decreasing. One major feature is the difference in the lifestyles of women and men anaesthesiologists, in particular, when they consider starting a family. In Europe, anaesthesiologists who are men are twice as likely to have children than anaesthesiologists who are women. Globally the former group are 1.4 times more likely than the latter group to have children. While surveys do raise awareness of gender equity and help build the framework for interventions to establish equal opportunities, active approaches are needed in practice. The European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care recently established its Gender Equity Committee with the aim of fuelling activities that improve the gender gap in this profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]