Factors Associated With Gender Distribution in Academic Rhinology.

Area of Science:

• Medical research
• Academic medicine
• Otolaryngology

Background:

• Women remain underrepresented in academic medicine, particularly in surgical specialties.
• This disparity is evident in fields like rhinology within otolaryngology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the gender distribution of academic rhinologists.
• To identify factors within otolaryngology departments associated with the representation of female rhinologists.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study utilizing data from the American Medical Association (AMA) FREIDA database, American Rhinologic Society database, and online searches.
• Fellowship-trained rhinologists were identified, and their demographic and academic data were collected.
• Logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the association between departmental characteristics and female rhinologists' representation.

Main Results:

• Of 224 fellowship-trained rhinologists, 26.8% were female.
• Female assistant professors were more numerous (55.0%) than male counterparts (39.6%), while female full professors were fewer (10.0% vs. 24.4%).
• Female rhinologists had lower mean H-indices than males after 5 years in practice and were more likely to be in departments with higher proportions of female faculty.

Conclusions:

• Female representation in academic rhinology declines with increasing academic rank.
• The proportion of female faculty within a department is a significant factor influencing the presence of female rhinologists.
• Enhancing mentorship and leadership opportunities for women is crucial for improving gender diversity in the field.