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Published on: February 12, 2018
The Influence of Gender on Publication Outcomes in Postgraduate Surgical Research: A 12-Year Cohort Study
Chan Ho Kim1, Nazim Bhimani1, Anthony R Glover1
1Speciality of Surgery, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
Background:
Historically, systemic barriers have limited women's participation in surgical training and academia. Whilst the representation of women among surgical trainees has increased globally, continued examination of gender inequality within surgical academia is necessary to ensure holistic and sustainable diversity. This study explored the association between student and supervisor gender and research outcomes and assessed temporal trends in gender representation within a postgraduate surgery coursework degree.
Methods:
A retrospective cohort study was conducted among students who completed the Master of Surgery dissertation subject at The University of Sydney between 2010 and 2021. Data included dissertation mark, publication rate, time to publication, citation count, journal impact factor and total publications within 2 years. Outcomes were compared by student and supervisor gender, and student-supervisor dyads, using Mann-Whitney U, chi-squared and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Temporal trends were analysed using regression models.
Results:
A total of 424 students were included (305 men, 119 women). Dissertation mark and short-term research outcomes did not differ by student gender with both having a median of one publication. Students supervised by men had higher dissertation publication rates (56% vs. 30%, p < 0.001) and more publications within 2 years (median 1 vs. 0, p = 0.009) than those supervised by women. Woman-woman student-supervisor dyads were less likely to publish their dissertation (29%) than man-man (57%) and woman-man dyads (53%) (p = 0.006). While the number of women supervisors increased over time, the number of women students and the proportional representation of women students and supervisors remained unchanged.
Conclusion:
Academic performance and short-term research outcomes were similar by student gender, suggesting that disparities in surgical training and academia are unlikely to be explained by differences in academic capability or early research productivity. Differences associated with supervisor gender and persistent under-representation highlight ongoing structural influences on academic productivity, and the need for sustained, system-level equity initiatives across the surgical training pipeline.
