Is the gender gap closing in otolaryngology subspecialties? An analysis of research productivity

Abstract

Objective: The proportion of women specializing in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (Oto-HNS) and seeking fellowship training has steadily increased over the last several years. In academic Oto-HNS, gender differences exist in research productivity, scholarly impact, and funding. This study aims to evaluate gender differences in academic productivity between otolaryngologists in early, mid-, and later careers stages and within various subspecialties.Methods: Departmental websites for all Oto-HNS residency programs were accessed, and data including gender, academic rank, and fellowship training/subspecialty field was collected. Bibliometric data including h-index, publication years, number of citations, documents, and coauthors was obtained from the Scopus database. Career groups were defined as early (1-5 years), mid-(6-15 years), and later (16+ years). Continuous data was compared using the t test.Results: Data was collected on 1,754 academic otolaryngologists (412 women, 1,342 men). Overall, men exhibited significantly higher h-indices, number of documents, citations, and coauthors and actively published for more years compared to women (P < 0.0001 for all variables). Similar trends persisted across all subspecialties. When authors were broken down into career groups, women and men showed similar research productivity across all career groups in the subspecialties of otology, facial plastics, and rhinology; however, in head and neck, laryngology, and pediatrics, women continued to lag behind men.Conclusion: This study suggests that female otolaryngologists within certain subspecialties are keeping pace with their male counterparts in publication productivity in the early career time frame. This represents a change from prior studies which have shown women to be less productive in the early career period.

Perception of male otolaryngologists on gender discrimination: a comparative study

“…In parallel to increasing number of women in otolaryngology over the past few decades, academic productivity gap has been closing between the both genders. However, gender discrimination against females in various aspects still persists [3]. The discrimination may be in different forms, for example, marginalization of female residents; FORLs being assigned to more work compared to their MORLs counterparts on the same seniority level, but to lesser number of operations; unfavorable working conditions; facing difficulties for maternity leaves, breastfeeding breaks and in pursuing an academic career; being seen as having less physical strength and capability; patients' preference for male surgeons and patients' less respectful attitudes towards female surgeons [2].…”

Women in academic surgery over the last four decades

“…There is similar gender parity present in the leadership positions of ENT societies relative to the percentage of practicing female ENT surgeons [13]. The development of robust and active mentorship programs for students and residents may be helping to relieve pipeline issues [14].…”

Women in Otolaryngology: Experiences of Being Female in the Specialty

“…In 2017, the Society for University Otolaryngologists listed only 26 female program directors at the 107 academic otolaryngology departments, though a report in 2012 determined that women were proportionally represented in subspecialty societies and leadership positions when controlling for age 5 . Within otolaryngology, women are underrepresented in compensation, 6 NIH funding, 7 financial relationships with industry, 8 on otolaryngology journal editorial boards, 9 and in research productivity, 10 though a promising study from 2019 reports the gender gap in research may be closing 11 …”