M. M. Romine1, Z. Aburjania1, H. Chen1, L. Tanner1 1University Of Alabama at Birmingham,Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Introduction:
Many studies exist which compare performance evaluation between males and females in the fields of research, technology and business. Objective data is limited to evaluate the effect of gender on evaluations, especially in medicine. As evaluations are often used to determine consideration for promotions and career advancements we aim to discover how gender impacts evaluations of the surgical faculty at one medical school.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective analysis of faculty evaluations by medical students during the 2012-2015 academic years. The questionnaire consisted of 18 questions with a scale of 0-10 and a separate section for comments. The comments were classified as positive, neutral or negative. The mean scores between rank and gender were compared. For data analysis a chi-squared test, t-test and ANOVA was used where appropriate. P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results:
There percentage of females in each faculty ranking were 25, 29 and 2 percent in the assistant, associate and full professor roles respectively. Overall, full professors received higher mean scores in questions related to education and providing feedback compared to assistant and associate professors. When comparing genders, males were ranked higher compared to females in availability, providing constructive feedback and teaching.
Conclusion:
Objective analysis of the impact gender has on performance evaluation in medicine is lacking. In this study, we demonstrate discrepant scores between male and female faculty despite similar academic standing. Implicit gender bias may play a role in evaluation of medical faculty and therefore negatively impact perceived ability.