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Chairpersons of pathology in the United States: limited benchmarks for publications

John Hedley-Whyte1, Debra R Milamed, David C Hoaglin

  • 1Harvard University, Boston, MA 02132-4927, USA.

American Journal of Clinical Pathology
|July 28, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Pathology department chairs in US medical schools remain predominantly male and long-tenured. Despite increasing numbers of women in medicine, leadership roles show minimal gender diversity, particularly in pathology.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Education
  • Academic Leadership
  • Pathology

Background:

  • Pathology chairpersons hold significant leadership positions in US medical schools.
  • The Hirsch index (h-index) is a metric used to evaluate academic productivity and impact.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the citation impact (h-index) of department chairs across 8 specialties in 41 US medical schools.
  • To assess the gender distribution and tenure of department chairs, with a focus on pathology.

Main Methods:

  • The h-index was calculated for department chairs in 41 US medical schools across 8 specialties.
  • Data on the proportion of women in leadership and continuous tenure from 1999-2009 were collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Pathology chairs exhibited the longest continuous tenure between 1999 and 2009, and these long-serving chairs were exclusively male.
  • Women constituted only 3.7% of department chairs in 1999 and 7% in 2009 across the studied medical schools.
  • A significant disparity exists in female representation in academic leadership compared to the proportion of women in medical schools.

Conclusions:

  • Pathology leadership in US medical schools remains overwhelmingly male and characterized by long-term appointments.
  • The low percentage of female chairs highlights a persistent gender gap in academic medical leadership, despite decades of increasing female medical student enrollment.

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