Author(s)
Vikram Vasan, BA
Christopher P. Cheng, AB
Shaun Edalati, BS
Alfred Marc Iloreta, MD
Eric M. Genden, MD
Marita S. Teng, MD
Affiliation(s)
Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine;
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to identify and interpret linguistic patterns in otolaryngology fellowship applications, evaluate potential gender based implicit differences, and recognize trends in female representation within head and neck surgery fellowship programs.
Objectives: Female representation within head and neck surgery (HNS) faculty has improved over the past decade, but a considerable gender gap remains. One potential challenge to inclusivity may lie in subjective components of HNS fellowship applications, such as letters of recommendation (LORs) and personal statements (PSs). Previous studies have identified implicit gender bias in the rhinology and neurotology fellowship LORs. This study analyzes linguistic differences in LORs and PSs between male and female HNS fellowship applicants.
Study Design: Single institution retrospective review.
Methods: LORs and PSs from 2020-2024 application cycles to a single HNS fellowship were collected. A peer reviewed deep learning tool, Empath, was used to generate several sentiment categories and scores which allowed analysis of linguistic differences between applicant gender. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were then performed to compare Empath sentiment scores for each category between applicant gender.
Results: Over the 4 years of HNS fellowship data analyzed, there were 53 male applicants and 28 female applicants. Female applicants represented 5/19 (26.3%) in 2020, 4/14 (28.6%) in 2021, 10/30 (33.3%) in 2022, and 9/18 (50%) in 2023. In both LORs and PSs, there were no statistically significant differences in word count or linguistic Empath sentiment scores between male and female applicants.
Conclusions: This single institution pilot study found no linguistic differences between HNS applicant gender. Additionally, we report an upward trend in the percentage of female applicants to HNS fellowship at our institution. Overall, we note an encouraging trend towards gender inclusivity within HNS at the fellowship application level, in stark contrast to findings from other subspecialty fellowship analyses.