Gender trends in cardiothoracic surgery authorship

Area of Science:

• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Medical Publishing
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• Historically low representation of women in cardiothoracic surgery.
• Publications are a key metric for academic success and career advancement in surgery.
• Focus on increasing women's participation in cardiothoracic surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze trends in gender of first and last authors in cardiothoracic surgery publications.
• To compare publication authorship trends with the proportion of active women in the field.
• To identify progress and areas for improvement in gender representation in cardiothoracic surgery literature.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of publications in two US cardiothoracic surgery journals from 2011-2020.
• Categorization of publication types including clinical trials, reviews, and case reports.
• Gender association of author names using validated software and comparison with physician specialty data.

Main Results:

• First authorship by women increased from 8.5% to 16% between 2011 and 2020.
• The rise in women's first authorship paralleled the increase in active women cardiothoracic physicians (4.6% to 8%).
• Last authorship by women showed minimal change, increasing by only 0.06% per year on average.

Conclusions:

• Women's authorship in cardiothoracic surgery has increased, particularly in first author positions.
• The findings suggest progress in gender representation but highlight persistent disparities in senior authorship.
• Author-volunteered gender identification could enhance future trend analysis.