Factors Associated With Gender Distribution in Academic Rhinology

Women have been underrepresented in academic medicine and surgical fields. This study aimed to describe the gender distribution in academic rhinology and investigate otolaryngology departmental factors associated with female rhinologists representation.

Cross-sectional study.

American Medical Association (AMA) FREIDA database, American Rhinologic Society database, and online search.

We identified fellowship-trained rhinologists from institutional searches of residency programs identified from the AMA FREIDA database. Demographic and academic data of each rhinologist were extracted from online search. Departmental characteristics were obtained from the FREIDA database and institutional websites. The associations between female rhinologists representation and departmental factors were assessed using logistic regression analyses.

Among 224 fellowship-trained rhinologists, female comprised 26.8%. There were more female assistant professors (55.0% vs 39.6%) and fewer full professors (10.0% vs. 24.4%) than their male counterparts (P = .046). The mean H index was lower for female than male rhinologists among those over 5 years in practice (20.5 vs 33.0, P = .029). In the multivariate analysis, female rhinologists were more likely to be found in departments with greater proportions of female faculty (adjusted odds ratio 1.08 [95% confidence interval 1.04-1.12], P < .001).

The proportion of female rhinologists decreased significantly as they advanced through academic rank. The main driver for female rhinologists representation is the increased number of female faculty in the department. There should be increased efforts to promote female mentorship and women in leadership positions.