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Public Discussion Affects Question Asking at Academic Conferences.

ABSTRACT: Women are under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Despite the recent emphasis on diversity in STEM, our understanding of what drives differences between women and men scientists remains limited. This, in turn, limits our ability to intervene to level the playing field. To quantify the representation and participation of women and men at academic meetings in human genetics, we developed high-throughput and crowd-sourced approaches focused on question-asking behavior. Question asking is one voluntary and self-initiated scientific activity we can measure. Here we report that women ask fewer questions than expected regardless of their representation in talk audiences. We present evidence that external barriers affect the representation of women in STEM. However, differences in question-asking behavior suggest that internal factors also impact women's participation. We then examine the effects of specific interventions and show that wide public discussion of the relative under-participation of women in question-and-answer sessions alters question-asking behavior. We suggest that engaging the community in such projects promotes visibility of diversity issues at academic meetings and allows for efficient data collection that can be used to further explore and understand differences in conference participation.

SUBMITTER: Telis N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6612753 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Public Discussion Affects Question Asking at Academic Conferences.

Telis Natalie N Glassberg Emily C EC Pritchard Jonathan K JK Gunter Chris C

American journal of human genetics 20190627 1

Women are under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Despite the recent emphasis on diversity in STEM, our understanding of what drives differences between women and men scientists remains limited. This, in turn, limits our ability to intervene to level the playing field. To quantify the representation and participation of women and men at academic meetings in human genetics, we developed high-throughput and crowd-sourced approaches focused on question-asking ...[more]

PMID: 31256875

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Project description:IntroductionQuestion prompt lists (QPLs) have been found to support patients to ask questions and improve the information they receive from doctors. However, some QPL tools, which have been available online for almost 15 years, have little published data on their impact in real-world settings. This study's aim was to understand patients' attitudes and experiences accessing health information and to assess the impact of introducing two generic QPLs over 3 months.MethodsA longitudinal qualitative study consisting of three semi-structured interviews over a three-month period was conducted with 31 purposively selected participants, adults ≥18 years, recruited online and through social media. Participants were introduced to two different QPLs currently available online ('Question Builder'; 'AskShareKnow'). Inductive thematic analysis of a total of 92 semi-structured telephone interviews was conducted during May-November 2020.ResultsThree main themes are described. (1) Participants described barriers and facilitators to accessing health information: navigating a complex health system; difficulty asking questions of their healthcare professionals and that they value doctors with good communication skills. (2) QPLs helped some participants recognize the role of question-asking in consultations, made them feel more empowered and helped them prepare and prioritize. (3) Participants wanted QPLs to be easier to use, be accessible when needed and that question-asking and QPLs should be normalized in medical consultations.ConclusionsWell-designed and easily accessible QPLs can empower people to ask questions and be more involved in decisions about their health care. Endorsement of question-asking in consultations by healthcare professionals and providing QPL tools at the point of contact with health services will be key to realizing the potential of QPLs.Patient or public contributionThis study was completed in conjunction with a reference group consisting of a consumer representative, representatives from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Healthdirect Australia Ltd., and the research team.

Project description:ImportanceWomen in medicine have been underrepresented at medical conferences; however, contributing factors have not been well studied.ObjectiveTo examine the distribution of invited conference speakers by gender and factors associated with representation of women as speakers.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional analysis used medical conference programs from March 2017 to November 2018 across 20 specialties in 5 regions (Australasia, Canada, Europe, the UK, and the US) that were obtained online or from conference conveners.ExposuresGender of invited lecturers, panelists, and planning committee members for each conference based on name or picture and publicly available data on compositions of specialties by gender for included regions.Main outcomes and measuresOutcomes included the proportion of female speakers (invited lecturers and panelists), the number of single-gender panels, and the proportion of female speakers compared with the specialties' gender composition. Correlations between the gender composition of conference planning committees and the proportion of female speakers were assessed. Multivariable regression models were used to evaluate factors independently associated with the proportion of female speakers at conferences.ResultsA total of 8535 sessions (panels and invited lectures) with 23 440 speakers across 98 conferences were identified. Women accounted for 7064 (30.1%) of speakers; 1981 of 5409 panels (36.6%) consisted of men only, and 363 (6.7%) consisted of women only. The proportion of women speakers varied by region and specialty from 5.8% to 74.5%. In general, specialties with low baseline proportions of women (<20%) had a ratio of female speakers to female specialists greater than 1, whereas specialties with high baseline proportions of women (>40%) had a ratio of female speakers to female specialists less that 1. There was a strong positive correlation between the proportion of women on planning committees and conference representation of female speakers (r = 0.67; P < .001). The association remained statistically significant after controlling for other variables, including the regional gender balance of the specialty (odds ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04-1.15; P < .001 for every 10% increase in the proportion of women on the planning committee).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional study, the proportion of female speakers at medical conferences was lower than that of male speakers, and more than one-third of panels were composed of men only. Increasing the number of women on planning committees may help address gender inequities.

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Public Discussion Affects Question Asking at Academic Conferences.

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Public Discussion Affects Question Asking at Academic Conferences.

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