Gender Differences in Barriers to Academic Cardiovascular Careers in North America

Despite improvements in gender representation across cardiovascular training stages, there is a decline in women cardiologists at higher levels of academia.

The purpose of this study was to understand personal and systemic contributors to academic career attrition from the perspectives of men and women across career stages.

The American College of Cardiology administered a 24-question online survey to early career (EC) cardiologists and fellows in training (FITs) in the United States and Canada from August to September 2023 to assess barriers to academic careers. Responses were evaluated by self-reported gender.

Among 608 respondents (16% response rate, 23.2% women), EC women and men shared similar reasons for being interested in academia. More women reported discrimination and competing clinical responsibilities as barriers to academia compared to men (25.6% vs 11.2%, and 60.5% vs 42%, respectively, P < 0.001 for both), while more men cited lack of job openings compared to women (34.8% vs 22.1%, respectively; P = 0.020). There was no difference in work satisfaction between women and men FITs, but women were less likely to report strong work satisfaction compared to men at the EC stage (62.3% vs 76.7%, respectively; P = 0.035). Both men and women ranked new methods to measure and reward academic pursuits as the most desired intervention to promote academic success, with more EC women valuing mentorship (83.3% vs 63.2%; P = 0.016).

FIT and EC cardiologists' perspectives regarding academic cardiology careers reveal unique barriers by gender and career stage. These highlight the need to support the evolving needs of FITs and ECs during this vulnerable transition period.