Gender gap at a large European urological congress: still at the beginning

Abstract

Purpose Women are underrepresented at scientific conferences, decreasing the visibility of female role models, which are vital for aspiring young female scientists. This investigation aimed to evaluate female representation at the German Society of Urology's (GSoU) annual meeting. Methods The programs of the GSoU meeting of 2011, 2018, 2019 and the virtual conference in 2020 were retrospectively quantified by gender and categorized by chair or speaker, type, and topic of the session. Descriptive analysis was applied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify gender inequity and variables influencing gender distribution. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 2.504 chairs and speakers were invited to the GSoU meeting in 2018 and 2019. Female speakers or chairs were represented in 17.8%, indicating a gender gap of 64.7%. There were significant differences between session type, topic, and gender distribution for chairs and speakers. The topic surgical techniques were independent variables for both, underrepresented female chairs and speakers, respectively (p < 0.001). Vocational policy and plenary session were not represented by any female chair in 2011, 2018, and 2019. In comparison, the gender gap in 2011 was 74.2%, indicating a gap reduction of 1.2% per year. In a selected virtual program in 2020, the gender gap increased to 70.4%. Conclusion There is still a significant discrepancy between gender representation at the GSoU annual meetings, and gender equity is currently not expected before 50 years. Future efforts should address the implementation of established guidelines for achieving gender equity at urological conferences.

Primum Non Discernere: Glass Ceilings and Female Representation at the European Association of Urology and European Society for Paediatric Urology Annual Meetings, 2012–2022

“…These numbers and ratios are in line with those reported by Hüsch et al [26] for their analysis of female representation at annual meetings of the German Society of Urology in 2011 (9% female chairs and 15% female speakers) in comparison to 2018, 2019, and 2020 (15% female chairs and 20% female speakers). However, it should be noted that female representation in the German society was still modestly lower than in the EAU or ESPU at that time (∼25%).…”

Continued gender imbalance on panels at urology meetings

“…Aside from an uncertain clinical importance, the generalisability of this trial to patients with bladder cancer in the United States remains unclear. Patients enrolled in cancer trials, especially when surgical, may under-represent critical 'real world' patient populations, owing to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria [5]. We hypothesise that patients in the United States who undergo RC for bladder cancer differ in clinically important ways from the patients who were enrolled in the iROC trial.…”

“…In Europe, the number of female urologists is also increasing in many countries. For example, in Germany, 38.8% of new certifications for medical specialists in urology in 2019 were women [5]. Recent literature that focuses on female representation at urological conferences shows that representation varies by region.…”

Gender representation at scientific congresses: focus on functional and female urology—a study from the EAU Young Academic Urologist Functional Urology Group

“…In this context, surgical disciplines have been identified to be particularly affected by underrepresentation of women although differences exist by surgical specialty [7]. In urology, a gender gap of 65% for a large European conference has been identified [4] which has been confirmed by another analysis of gender representation of other urological meetings [8]. However, the International Continence Society has been identified to represent a more balanced gender representation [8].…”

“…The presence of female role models correlates with increase positive self-conception and reduced stereotype application to young female scientists [ 2 ]. Nevertheless, women are often underrepresented at academic conferences [ 3 ] despite the increasing number of female physicians [ 4 , 5 ]. The perception of female underrepresentation in academic environments may have substantial impact on the outcomes for women in academic medicine and may even contribute to women exiting an academic career [ 1 ].…”