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Glass Ceiling in Hand Surgery: Publication Trends by Gender
Joshua T Bram1, Lacey C Magee1, Andrew Parambath1
1Division of Orthopaedics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
The Iowa Orthopaedic Journal
|July 13, 2022
Summary
Female senior authors in hand surgery research are less likely to have their abstracts published compared to their male counterparts. This disparity in publication rates warrants further investigation to address gender-based inequities in academic surgery.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Hand Surgery Research
- Academic Medicine
Background:
- Women remain underrepresented in surgical subspecialties, facing barriers to academic advancement.
- Research productivity and leadership positions in fields like orthopedic and plastic surgery show gender-based discrepancies.
- Understanding research output disparities is crucial for promoting inclusivity in surgery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in abstract characteristics and publication rates based on senior author gender.
- To analyze research trends and collaboration patterns among senior authors in hand surgery.
- To identify potential barriers affecting women's research contributions in hand surgery.
Main Methods:
- Review of abstracts from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand annual meetings (2010-2017).
- Determination of senior author gender via institutional websites and name inference.
- Identification of full manuscript publications using PubMed and Google Scholar searches.
Main Results:
- 14.5% of identifiable senior authors were female; no significant differences in study design or evidence level were found.
- Female senior authors were more likely to focus on pediatric hand surgery and collaborate with female first authors.
- Abstracts with female senior authors had significantly lower publication rates (61.7%) compared to male senior authors (74.5%).
Conclusions:
- While representation of female senior authors in hand surgery abstracts mirrors membership, publication rates differ.
- Gender-based collaboration patterns were observed, with authors tending to work with investigators of the same gender.
- The 13% lower publication rate for abstracts authored by females requires further exploration to address potential inequities.
