Analysis of Gender Disparity in US and Canadian Radiology Residency Programs

Equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic radiology are a work in progress and although the gender gap has decreased, there remains a paucity of studies examining female representation among radiology trainees over the past decade.

The aim of our undertaking was to evaluate gender parity in United States (US) and Canadian radiology residency programs and to suggest future directions to improve female representation MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of publicly available data on radiology residents from the US and Canada was performed from 2007to 2019. Data on diagnostic radiology residents was collected from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for the US and the Canadian Post M.D. Education Registry for Canada. Statistical tests including regression and ANOVA were used to study the gender proportions from 2007to 2019.

There has been little progress in bridging the gender gap in the last 12 years. The proportion of female residents pursuing radiology has remained at an average of 26.74% (n = 1,238of 4,629) in US programs and 31.78% (n = 28 of88) in Canadian programs. The average change in the percentage of female residents was 0.0% per year (P = 0.0) for US programs and -2.9% per year (P = 0.3) for Canadian programs.

Despite a higher proportion of females in North American medical schools, gender disparity persists among radiology residents. More research is needed to identify barriers limiting female representation and improve gender parity across North American radiology programs.