Gender differences in authorship among Hepato-pancreatico-biliary surgeons

While studies have explored the gender gap in scientific publications, no study has investigated surgical literature in much detail. We examined the gender gap in Hepato-pancreato-biliary publications over the last decade.

All physician authored original clinical science articles published in HPB, Annals of Surgery, Surgery, Annals of Surgical Oncology, and JAMA Surgery were reviewed from 2008 to 2017. Chi square analysis was used to compare the proportions of female and male authors and Cochrane-Armitage test was used for comparisons over time.

Of the 1067 publications, 84.0% of all authorships were held by men. Women physicians made up 10.3% of senior and 21.4% of first authorships with increased representation from 2.13% in 2007 to 14.8% in 2017 (p = 0.001). Women physicians comprised 14.1% of senior authors in JAMA Surgery, but only 2.46% in Annals of Surgical Oncology. Male authors were five times more likely to publish multiple articles compared to their female counterparts. Female first authors progressed to senior authors at a rate of 1.13% versus 5.73% for male authors (p = 0.89).

These findings elucidate the continued underrepresentation of women in senior research roles and the need to recruit and mentor women in all stages of their academic careers.