S. M. Krise1, I. A. Etheart2, A. T. Perzynski3, K. J. Conrad-Schnetz4 1Ohio University,Heritage College Of Osteopathic Medicine,Cleveland, OH, USA 2West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine,Lewisberg, WV, USA 3MetroHealth Medical Center,Cleveland, OH, USA 4Cleveland Clinic,Cleveland, OH, USA
Introduction: Leadership amongst regional and national organizations is a key opportunity to obtain scholarly activity which is essential for attaining academic advancement. Data has been reported showing gender disparity in scholarly activity, specifically in publication status and NIH grants, with women having decreased rates compared to male colleagues (Awad 2017, Svider 2014). Gender disparity in leadership of surgical organizations is important to examine given this relationship. Our objective was to examine the differences between male and female leadership within surgical organizations.
Methods: Credentials were obtained through an Internet search of organization websites. Variables included organization type, leadership role, gender, advanced degree, medical school graduation year, publications, and employment at an academic institution. A bivariate analysis was performed between genders. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: 532 leaders were identified in 43 surgical organizations. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of male and female leaders (73.3% vs 26.7%, p=0.012). Women were most likely to hold the role of Other (35.5%) and least likely to be Vice-President (10.5%) and President-Elect (13.8%). In line with other research, women had a decreased publication rate than male colleagues (85.2% vs 93.1%, p=0.005). Women had a higher rate of advanced degrees than men (24.8% vs 16.7%, p=0.035). Women were found to be involved earlier in their careers than men (4.9 years, 95% CI 4.1-7.8 years, p<0.01). OB/GYN organizations were the only organization type to show gender parity with 55% of leader roles held by women. Vascular surgery (0%), ENT and General Surgery (13%), and Thoracic Surgery (15%) had the least female representation in leadership.
Conclusion: Male and female leaders are nearly equal in their credentials with women having less publications, but more advanced degrees; yet women are under-represented in leadership of surgical organizations. Our data show women are involved earlier in their careers in conflict to the belief that women hold off on career pursuits due to family planning and work/life balance. Data have shown that it takes women longer to reach Full Professor than men (Abelson 2015). This knowledge could lead women to be more aggressive in their leadership endeavors, explaining their early involvement. Since a higher rate of women hold lower level leadership roles, they must continue to be mentored and encouraged into higher leadership positions. Surgical organization leadership should be re-examined in the future to identify if gender parity is reached with more women holding higher level leadership roles.
