Gender differences in question-asking at the 2019 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting

Abstract

Attendance at professional conferences is an important component of career development, because conferences are a major forum for presenting new research, interacting with colleagues and networking. An extensive literature documents differences in the professional experiences of women and men, including experiences at professional conferences. We hypothesized that women are less likely than men to ask questions at conferences, thus forgoing opportunities for professional development. To address this issue, we analyzed the question-asking behavior of women and men at the 2019 Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology. In all, 112 sessions (55% of those eligible) were randomly chosen for coding, yielding data on 577 presentations. Although approximately 50% of moderators and speakers were women, the proportion of questions asked by women was significantly lower compared with the estimated proportion of women attending the conference (23% vs 39%; P < .0001). Women were more likely to ask questions if another woman asked the first question or if the session topic was red cells. These results suggest that although women are represented equally as moderators and speakers, they are less likely to engage in the postpresentation discourse by asking questions. Encouraging women to speak up in professional situations and providing training on question-asking skills can help address this gender gap that potentially contributes to disparities in professional visibility and career advancement for women in hematology.

Role of Sex in Participation During Virtual Grand Rounds in Ophthalmology

“…As female students age, there is a decline in classroom participation . Similarly, in academia, women ask fewer questions than men, regardless of their representation in the audience and when adjusted for seniority of the question-asker …”

“…The findings in this study are consistent with others demonstrating that women in academia ask fewer questions than men. 1,[4][5][6][7] This study demonstrates that differences persist even when academic meetings, such as GR, are held in a less formal online setting. Reasons explaining women's lower rates of participation in academia are poorly understood.…”

Gender-based disparities and biases in science: an observational study of a virtual conference

“…Although the questions were designed beforehand to guide the conversation, the interviewer prioritized open-ended questions and encouraged two-way communication during the interview in order to collect qualitative and indepth information. All the interviews were recorded via the video-conference platform 17 and the recordings 10 activeness specifically refers to number of questions asked during the conference 11 attendees who self-identify as male and are under 35 years old 12 attendees who self-identify as female and are under 35 years old 13 attendees who self-identify as male and are above 44 years old 14 attendees who self-identify as female and are above 44 years old 15 attendees who self-identify as female and are foreign (non-French) nationals 16 attendees who self-reported as members of the LGBTQIA+ community 17 All the interviews were conducted on ZOOM were later used to produced interview transcripts. The interviews were between 33 and 58 minutes.…”

“…Although the questions were designed beforehand to guide the conversation, the interviewer prioritized open-ended questions and encouraged two-way communication during the interview in order to collect qualitative and indepth information. All the interviews were recorded via the video-conference platform 17 and the recordings were later used to produced interview transcripts. The interviews were between 33 and 58 minutes.…”

“…We thank the JOBIM organizing committee for authorizing this study and enabling its presentation to the 17 All the interviews were conducted on ZOOM…”