Gender differences in endowed chairs in Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences from the top-10 NIH-funded medical schools in the US

Abstract

The current study examined gender differences in endowed chairs within Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences across the top 10 NIH-funded Schools of Medicine. The names of full professors with and without endowed chairs were collected and a multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to predict having an endowed chair considering gender, primary degree, NIH funding, and citation number. Secondary analyses repeated the models separately for individuals holding an MD or MD/PhD versus those with a non-MD doctoral degree (i.e., PhD). There were 715 full professors (36% women) and 115 endowed chairs (35% women). When adjusting for primary degree type, funding, and citations, women were significantly more likely to hold an endowed chair than men. Secondary models indicated that findings differed based on primary degree type. Among those with an MD or MD/PhD, gender was not associated with holding an endowed chair while among faculty with a PhD, women full professors were significantly more likely to hold an endowed chair than men. These results diverge from a prior study of Departments of Medicine in which endowed chairs were found to favor men.