Persistent Imbalance: Women's Representation in North American Pediatric Cardiology Leadership Roles

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Leadership
• Gender Studies in Medicine

Background:

• Despite achieving gender parity in physicians entering pediatric cardiology, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions.
• This disparity highlights a significant gap in career progression for women in the field.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles within pediatric cardiology.
• To analyze the distribution of women in various leadership positions across North American pediatric cardiology programs.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted between July 2022 and January 2023, collecting data on the gender of physicians in 16 leadership positions.
• Data were gathered from pediatric cardiology programs in North America with more than five cardiologists.
• Analysis focused on associations between women in leadership and center size, geographic region, fellowship program presence, and the gender of division chiefs and department chairs.

Main Results:

• Women held 36.8% of all leadership roles and 35.1% of cardiology-specific roles across 99 centers.
• Only 13% of pediatric cardiology division chiefs were women; however, their programs had more women in subsection leadership roles (47% vs. 36%).
• Women were more likely to share leadership roles (5.4% vs. 2.5%) and less likely to hold dual leadership positions (9.9% vs. 15.1%) compared to men.

Conclusions:

• Women remain underrepresented in pediatric cardiology leadership, with a more equitable distribution observed in centers led by women division chiefs.
• Women leaders are more inclined to share leadership responsibilities and less likely to concurrently hold multiple leadership posts.
• Factors such as center size, region, or department chair gender did not show a significant association with the percentage of women in leadership.