Towards equality: gender representation at the Royal College of Radiologists’ Annual Scientific Meeting 2014-2021

Abstract

Background: Conferences facilitate career advancement, but gender imbalances in public fora may negatively impact both women and men, and society. We aimed to describe the gender distribution of presenters at the UK’s 2014-2021 Royal College of Radiologists’ (RCR) Annual Scientific Meeting. Methods: We extracted data on presenter name, role and session type from meeting programmes. We classified gender as male or female using names, records or personal pronouns, accepting the limitations of these categories. We classified roles by prestige: lead, other (speakers and workshop faculty), proffered paper or poster presenters. We calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations between gender and binary outcomes using logistic regression. Results: Women held 1,059 (37.5%) of 2,826 conference roles and presented 9/27 keynotes. Compared to men, women were less likely to hold other roles such as speakers and workshop faculty (OR 0.72 95% CI 0.61-0.83), and more likely to present posters (OR 1.49 95% CI 1.27-1.76). There were 60 male-only and eight women-only multi-presenter sessions. Sessions led by women had higher proportions of women speakers. The odds of roles being held by women increased during online meetings during COVID (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.36-1.91). Conclusion: The proportion of women presenters and keynote speakers reflects that of RCR membership, but not of the patient population. Disadvantage starts from the earliest career stages, prejudicing career opportunities. Efforts to improve inclusion and diversity are needed; focusing on lead roles and hybrid online/in-person formats may accelerate change.

What does the ‘chat’ tell us about participation and engagement in online video conferencing?

“…For example, in their analysis of rates of question-asking in medical learning environments, Cromer et al (2022, p.1) found that, while "women had a lower rate of asking and answering questions… these disparities were attenuated in smaller, discussion-based and virtual classes." Similarly, in an analysis of the UK equivalent to the annual conference of radiology reported in Rezaee et al (2022), Gibson et al (2023) found that, while men dominated all conference participation roles during in-person events, "[t]he odds of roles being held by women increased during online meetings during COVID", leading them to conclude that "hybrid online/inperson formats may accelerate change." (p.1).…”