Gender disparities in gastroenterology fellowship director positions in the United States

Despite a paucity of women occupying leadership positions in academic medicine, studies have shown a higher ratio of female representation in the program director position compared with division chief in multiple specialties. This study aims to determine whether this trend exists in 3-year gastroenterology fellowships in the United States and to evaluate for any factors that may affect these differences.

In 2015, data were collected for the 163 U.S. gastroenterology fellowship programs including program director, associate program director, division chief, gender distribution, program size, academic center affiliation, and geographic region.

A higher percentage of men than women held the role of program director (82% vs 18%), associate program director (72% vs 28%), and division chief (93% vs 7%). Women in program leadership held lower academic rank than their male counterparts (P < .0001). The program director was more likely to be female if the division chief also was female (P = .03). Programs with a higher number of trainees tended to be led by a female program director (P = .06).

A gender disparity exists in all gastroenterology leadership roles, although the magnitude is smaller for program director and associate program director than the role of division chief. Further studies are needed to investigate the impact of this disparity on promotion and academic productivity.