Author(s)
Margaret Mills, BS1
Maua Mosha, MPH2
Katherine Kavanagh, MD2
Affiliation(s)
1Univ. of Connecticut Sch. of Med., Farmington, CT, 2Connecticut Children's Med. Ctr., Hartford, CT.;
Abstract:
Introduction:
Otolaryngology continues to have a workforce gender disparity, despite an overall increase in female physicians. In 2002, only 10.04% of practicing otolaryngologists were female, compared to 17.1% in 2017. Currently, the gender distribution of presenters at American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) is unknown.
Objective:
To assess the proportion of female speakers and presenters at the ASPO annual conference presenters from 2002 to 2017.
Methods:
Data was collected from 536 presentations across the four years (2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017). For each presentation, the type (poster, panel, abstract, keynote, lecture, presidential welcome, award) was recorded from annual conference programs, and a targeted search was performed to determine gender of the speaker or first author, senior or last author, panelist, and moderator. Chi-square was used to compare proportions of female presenters.
Results:
In total, the proportion of female presenters (oral abstract, poster, panel, lecture, and keynote) increased from 2002 (22.3%) to 2017 (45.9) (p<0.001). The proportion of female oral abstract presenters increased (11.8% in 2002 vs. 44.2% in 2017, p<0.001). Women comprised 17.2%, 30.0%, 38.6%, and 43.5% of all speakers in 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 respectively, with a significant increase from 2002 to 2017 (p=0.00). In 2002, 30.0% of poster first authors were female, as compared to 50.3% in 2017 (p=0.022).
Discussion:
As the number of women entering otolaryngology increases, research activity is also likely to increase. Our study indicates that there has been an increase in proportion of women presenting at ASPO. Ongoing efforts are important to support the continued advancement of women within pediatric otolaryngology.