Closing the gender gap: building a successful career and leadership in research as a female gastroenterologist

Abstract

The pillars of academic promotion include clinical service, research, teaching, and public engagement. Although women are more likely than men to pursue a career in academia after a gastroenterology fellowship (40% of women vs 25% of men choose this path), gender disparity in research and academic leadership remains. For example, only one woman was appointed assistant professor in all gastroenterology and hepatology divisions of university hospital centres in France in 2017–18, whereas ten men were appointed full professors and seven were appointed associate professors in that same period. 1 Aubart FC Roeser A Costedoat-Chalumeau N Papo T Piette J-C Women in internal medicine academic positions in France. Eur J Intern Med. 2019; 64: e18-e29 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar Only 20% of faculty and 25% of full professors in divisions of gastroenterology in the USA are women; this gender disparity has not diminished over the past 35 years and is similar across basic science and clinical departments. 2 Richter KP Clark L Wick JA et al. Women physicians and promotion in academic medicine. N Engl J Med. 2020; 383: 2148-2157 Crossref PubMed Scopus (103) Google Scholar Even though the representation of female physicians as first authors (42%) and senior (23%) authors of original research published in US gastroenterology journals has increased over the past two decades, the proportion of female senior authors increased at a slower rate than female first authors and was lower than expected based on the proportion of women in academia. 3 Long MT Leszczynski A Thompson KD Wasan SK Calderwood AH Female authorship in major academic gastroenterology journals: a look over 20 years. Gastrointest Endosc. 2015; 81: 1440-1447 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (78) Google Scholar , 4 Bhatia S Eluri S Kim E Angle H Dellon E Shaheen N Trends in female authorship of high impact publications in gastroenterology journals, 1997–2017. Am J Gastroenterol. 2018; 113: S652-S653 Google Scholar Similarly, representation of female first authors in high-impact European journals has increased since 1994, but it has plateaued in recent years. 5 Filardo G da Graca B Sass DM Pollock BD Smith EB Martinez MA-M Trends and comparison of female first authorship in high impact medical journals: observational study (1994–2014). BMJ. 2016; 352: i847 Crossref PubMed Scopus (271) Google Scholar In addition, the proportion of invited women speakers at major national gastroenterological meetings remains low: for example, at the British Society of Gastroenterology meeting in 2014, only 26% of speakers were female; at United European Gastroenterology week 2019, only 28% of speakers were female; and at Digestive Disease Week 2019, only 33% of speakers were female. 6 Brooks AJ Taylor EJ Arthurs EA et al. Gender differences in leadership, workforce and scholarly presentation within a national society: a gastroenterology perspective. Frontline Gastroenterol. 2019; 10: 2-6 Crossref PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar , 7 Khan Z Rukhshan R Bhatt A et al. persistent speaker gender gap at the premier digestive disease event. Dig Dis Sci. 2022; 67: 390-396 Crossref PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar , 8 Nakov R Alboraie M Tiniakos D UEG Equality and Diversity Task ForceHow to identify, encourage, and support suitable candidates for leading roles in scientific societies: the UEG experience. United European Gastroenterol J. 2021; 9: 874-876 Crossref PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar How can female gastroenterologists effectively build a successful career in research and overcome these barriers to achieving leadership and academic advancement?