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Gender Disparity in Academic Gastroenterology in Türkiye: A Nationwide Bibliometric Analysis
Gülden Bilican1, Stephan L Haas2,3, Hanife Uzar4
1Department of Gastroenterology, Kartal Koşuyolu Education and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye.
Background/Aims:
Gender disparities in academic medicine are well documented; however, no study has examined this within academic gastroenterology in Türkiye. The authors evaluated the gender distribution of academic gastroenterologists and examined relationships between gender, academic rank, research productivity, and leadership positions.
Materials And Methods:
Academic gastroenterologists were identified using the Council of Higher Education database. Of 317 academic gastroenterologists, 305 with reliable Scopus profiles were included; 12 were excluded because of ambiguous or duplicate profiles. Productivity metrics (publication count, citation count, h-index, years of active research, and m-index) were obtained from Scopus. Leadership status was assessed using institutional websites for the full cohort of 317 gastroenterologists, with leadership status determinable for 309 individuals. The history of presidencies of the Turkish Society of Gastroenterology (TSG) was also reviewed.
Results:
Among 305 gastroenterologists from 119 institutions across 47 cities, 77 (25.2%) were women and 228 (74.8%) were men. Female representation was lowest among professors (20.8%) compared with associate professors (32.5%) and assistant professors (33.3%) (χ2 = 5.36, P = .069). Leadership status was determined for 309 academics; among 55 department heads, only 10 (18.2%) were women (P = .247). Women had significantly fewer publications and citations, lower h index, and fewer years of active research than men (all P < .05), whereas the m-index did not differ significantly by sex (P = .066). When stratified by academic rank, no significant sex differences were observed for any metric (all P > .05). Of 20 documented terms of presidency of the TSG, only 2 (10.0%) had been held by women.
Conclusion:
Women are substantially underrepresented in academic gastroenterology in Türkiye, particularly at the professor rank and in leadership positions. The absence of a significant difference in m-index suggests that lower productivity among women may partly reflect differences in career duration rather than an intrinsic gap. Structural interventions targeting mentorship, promotion, and leadership opportunities are needed to reduce these disparities.
