Women Are Underrepresented in Prestigious Recognition Awards in the American Urological Association

To determine the proportion of women who received awards from the American Urological Association (AUA) and evaluate whether this has changed over time as the proportion of practicing female urologists has increased.

A retrospective review of award recipients from the AUA website was performed. Gender of award recipient, type of award and year received were collected and the trend over time was compared with the AUA census.

Of the 622 award recipients, 43 (6.9%) were women. There was a larger proportion of women who received early career awards (15/65; 23.1%) compared to women who received more prestigious mid (1/44; 2.3%) or senior (27/513; 5.3%) career awards. Additionally, 17/43 (39.5%) of female award recipients were not clinical urologists, compared to only 33/579 (5.7%) of male award recipients.

Despite increased representation by women in the field of urology, women remain underrepresented in awards given by the AUA. Although the proportion of women receiving awards over time has increased, it remains less than expected given the increased proportion of practicing female urologists. Strategic initiatives should be employed to help advance women in academic urology.