Gender and Racial Representation of Invited Speakers From The Aesthetic Society Annual Meetings Over a 5-Year Period

Abstract

Background Increased representation from both women and non-White ethnicities remains a topic of discussion in plastic surgery. Speakers at academic conferences are a form of visual representation of diversity within the field. This study determined the current demographic landscape of aesthetic plastic surgery and evaluated whether underrepresented populations receive equal opportunities to be invited speakers at The Aesthetic Society meetings. Methods Invited speaker's names, roles, and allotted time for presentation were extracted from the 2017 to 2021 meeting programs. Perceived gender and ethnicity were determined by visual analysis of photographs, whereas parameters of academic productivity and professorship were collected from Doximity, LinkedIn, Scopus, and institutional profiles. Differences in opportunities to present and academic credentials were compared between groups. Results Of the 1447 invited speakers between 2017 and 2021, 20% (n = 294) were women and 23% (n = 316) belonged to a non-White ethnicity. Representation from women significantly increased between 2017 and 2021 (14% vs 30%, P < 0.001), whereas the proportion of non-White speakers did not (25% vs 25%, P > 0.050) despite comparable h-indexes (15.3 vs 17.2) and publications (54.9 vs 75.9) to White speakers. Non-White speakers oftentimes had more academic titles, significant in 2019 (P < 0.020). Conclusions The proportion of female invited speakers has increased, with room for further improvement. Representation from non-White speakers has not changed. However, significantly more non-White speakers holding assistant professor titles may indicate increased ethnicity diversity in years to come. Future efforts should focus on improving diversity in positions of leadership while promoting functions that target young minority career individuals.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Plastic Surgery

“…Jacobson et al 123 reported that the proportion of female speakers at hand surgery meetings increased from 4% to 19% between 2010 and 2020. Similarly, Finkelstein et al 120 found that the proportion of female invited speakers increased over 5 years to 20%. In 2023, Maisner et al 117 reported that female medical students presented 53.5% of the abstracts at the 2019 and 2020 meetings of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Association of Plastic Surgeons, and the Plastic Surgery Research Council.…”

“…Ha et al 112 reported that underrepresented surgeons comprise 8.3% of practicing plastic surgeons but 4.7% of speakers. By contrast, Finkelstein et al 120 reported that 23% of the speakers at meetings of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, from 2017 to 2021, were non-White. Chawla et al 60 reported that citations and h-indices of White and non-White academic plastic surgeons were comparable.…”

“…Surnames were studied to determine race 22,60,78,92,125 . Photographs available online were reviewed 22,47,60,78–80,92,114,120,123,125 . A judgment was made regarding gender and race based on these photographs.…”

“…A total of 138 publications were identified 3–140 Figure 1. demonstrates the number of publications appearing annually in the 6 journals from January 2018 to September 2023.…”