Women in medicine: historical perspectives and recent trends

Jefferson, Laura; Bloor, Karen; Maynard, Alan

doi:10.1093/bmb/ldv007

Cited by 156 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The greatest gender imbalance was observed in the last author category where ‘female only’ authors comprised only 23%. Nonetheless, this proportion is higher than other studies reporting similar analyses[11,16,24].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

“…In the UK, women currently outnumber men in medical schools[11], however, a persistent gender disparity in scientific publications remains[10,12–23]. While the proportion of women as first and senior authors of original medical research has increased over the past few decades[24], women are still significantly underrepresented as authors of research articles in medical journals, especially as first and senior authors[14,22,23,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A retrospective analysis of gender parity in scientific authorship in a biomedical research centre

Dam

Shah

Milano

et al. 2020

Preprint

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ObjectiveScientific authorship is a vital marker of success in academic careers and gender equity is a key performance metric in research. However, there is little understanding of gender equity in publications in biomedical research centres funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This study assesses the gender parity in scientific authorship of biomedical research.DesignA retrospective descriptive study.SettingNIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.Data2409 publications accepted or published from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2017.Main outcome measuresGender of authors, defined as a binary variable comprising either male or female categories, in six authorship categories: first author, joint first authors, first corresponding author, joint corresponding authors, last author and joint last authors.ResultsPublications comprised clinical research (39%, n=939), basic research (27%, n=643), and other types of research (34%, n=827). The proportion of female authors as first author (41%), first corresponding authors (34%) and last author (23%) was statistically significantly lower than male authors in these authorship categories. Of total joint first authors (n=458), joint corresponding authors (n=169), and joint last authors (n=229), female only authors comprised statistically significant smaller proportions i.e. 15% (n=69), 29% (n=49) and 10% (n=23) respectively, compared to male only authors in these joint authorship categories. There was a statistically significant association between gender of the last author(s) with gender of the first author(s) (χ 2 33.742, P < 0.001), corresponding author(s) (χ2 540.774, P < 0.001) and joint last author(s) (χ 2 91.291, P < 0.001).ConclusionsAlthough there are increasing trends of female authors as first authors (41%) and last authors (23%), female authors are underrepresented compared to male authors in all six categories of scientific authorship in biomedical research. Further research is needed to encourage gender parity in different categories of scientific authorship.Strengths and limitations of this studyThis is the first study to investigate gender parity in six categories of scientific authorship: first authors, first corresponding authors, last authors and three joint authorship categories i.e. joint first authors, joint corresponding authors and joint last authors in biomedical research.This study provides an important benchmark on gender equity in scientific authorship for other NIHR funded centres and organisations in England.The generalisability of the findings of this study may be limited due to differences in medical specialities, research areas, institutional cultures, and levels of support to individual researchers.Using secondary sources for determining the gender of authors may have limitations, which could be avoided by seeking relevant information from original authors and institution affiliation at the time of submission.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A retrospective analysis of gender parity in scientific authorship in a biomedical research centre

Dam

Shah

Milano

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In the United States (US), women account for 47% of medical students; however, only 21% of full-time professors are women, indicating that this is still a relatively new trend [43]. Nevertheless, in some countries, including Great Britain, China, and Brazil, women have been outnumbering men in medical sciences in recent years [6, 44,, 45]. This is a relatively new global phenomenon, and, although it has been gaining attention, the consequences of this shift remain unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study of sociodemographic factors and their influence on quality of life in medical students at Sao Paulo, Brazil

Serinolli

Novaretti

2017

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundVarious sociodemographic factors can affect the quality of life of medical students and interfere in their ability to study. A deeper understanding of these factors may facilitate improvements in learning and retention of medical students.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of 405 medical students, representing 65.3% of the total student body (years 1–6), at a private medical school in São Paulo, Brazil. Among the entire study group, 177 students (43.7%) were male, and 228 (56.3%) were female. The mean age was 23.55 years (SD = 3.98 years, range: 18–40). The World Health Organization Quality of Life-Biomedical Research and Education Facility (WHOQOL-BREF) scale was used to evaluate the following sociodemographic factors: age, sex, academic year, daily traveling time, housing conditions, smoking, weight, height, participant’s and his/her parents’ education background, students who had a degree or not and religious beliefs. The reliability of the WHOQOL-BREF was evaluated using Cronbach’s analysis, and the association of sociodemographic factors with quality of life was examined using multivariate regression analysis.Main ResultsQuality of life was significantly higher in medical students with religious beliefs (β 0.14 for psychological domain; β 0.11 for environmental domain) when compared with that in those with no religious beliefs. BMI was negative associated with QOL in medical students (β -0.11 for physical domain; β -18.9 for the psychological domain). In both male and female students, longer daily traveling time was negative related to QOL (β -0.11 for environmental domain). Having at least one parent who was a doctor was associated with a better quality of life (β 0.17 for environmental domain). Male students presented with significantly higher mean scores for three of the four domains evaluated (β 0.20 for physical domain; β 0.25 for psychological domain; β 0.14 for social domain).ConclusionThis study has provided novel insights into the effects of sociodemographic factors, physical traits, and religious beliefs on the quality of life of medical students. These findings may facilitate improvements in physical, psychological, and social support for medical students at a critical stage in their training, thereby providing tools for student better adjustment to medical school.

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“…The fact that women react more sensitively than men to the dissection‐room experiences may have long‐term consequences to one of the central issues in medicine today, the feminization of the profession. Women now account for a large number (47%) of those entering medical schools (Levinson and Lurie, ; Elton, ; Bódiné Vajda et al, ; Lautenberger et al ; Jefferson et al, ). Helping female students to cope with their higher sensitivity to stress in dissection sessions should be made part of the medical training.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring medical students' motivation to learning anatomy by cadaveric dissection

Meguid

Khalil

2016

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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Motivation and learning are inter-related. It is well known that motivating learners is clearly a complex endeavor, which can be influenced by the educational program and the learning environment. Limited research has been conducted to examine students' motivation as a method to assess the effectiveness of dissection in medical education. This study aimed to assess and analyze students' motivation following their dissection experience. A 29-item survey was developed based on the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction model of motivation. Descriptive statistics were undertaken to describe students' motivation to the dissection experience. T-test and ANOVA were used to compare differences in motivational scores between gender and educational characteristics of students. Dissection activities appear to promote students' motivation. Gender difference was statistically significant as males were more motivated by the dissection experience than females. Comparison between students with different knowledge of anatomy was also significantly different. The study is an important step in the motivational design to improve students' motivation to learn. The outcome of this study provides guidance to the selection of specific strategies to increase motivation by generating motivational strategies/tactics to facilitate learning. Anat Sci Educ 10: 363-371. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

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Women in medicine: historical perspectives and recent trends

Abstract: Further research is needed to explore the cost-effectiveness of existing and future interventions in this field.

Cited by 156 publications

References 28 publications

A retrospective analysis of gender parity in scientific authorship in a biomedical research centre

A retrospective analysis of gender parity in scientific authorship in a biomedical research centre

A cross-sectional study of sociodemographic factors and their influence on quality of life in medical students at Sao Paulo, Brazil

Measuring medical students' motivation to learning anatomy by cadaveric dissection

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