C. Mueller1, D. Gaudilliere1, C. Kin1, R. Menorca1, M. Nash1, S. Girod1 1Stanford University,Surgery,Palo Alto, CA, USA
Introduction:
Promotion and retention of women surgeons in academia has been a
challenge. We examined gender disparities in research productivity, as measured by
number publications, h-indices and citations, and suggest strategies on how to support
the careers of surgical faculty.
Methods:
The online profiles of full-time faculty members of surgery departments
of three major peer academic centers were reviewed. Faculty were grouped into six
chronological cohorts based on year of medical school graduation. Gender differences
were examined across cohorts and academic rank.
Results:
The profiles of 978 surgeons (234 female, 744 male) were included. Women
at the assistant and full professor levels published less articles than their male
counterparts. Similar significant gender differences were found in all age cohorts,
except in the youngest cohort who graduated after 2000. Even though the impact of
publications as measured by h-index and citations was also mostly lower for female
surgeons by cohorts and rank, these measures did not show a significant difference
and were equal among associate professors.
Conclusion:
We identified gender disparity in the number of publications for female
faculty members across a fifty-year period and by rank. The impact of publications as
measured by the h-index and number of citations, was not consistently different
between the genders at any age or rank. Although the youngest cohort appeared to
avoid the gender divide, the lower quantitative scholarly productivity of women
surgeons may explain the challenges women face in the current academic promotion
system that is mostly focused on quantitative scholarly productivity.