Dataset Information

Sex differences in academic rank in allergy/immunology.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Female physicians are significantly less likely than male physicians to be full professors, even after accounting for age, experience, specialty, and measures of research and clinical productivity. OBJECTIVE:We sought to evaluate sex differences in academic rank in the allergy and immunology workforce. METHODS:We used a cross-sectional physician data set containing the allergist's sex, age, years since residency, faculty appointment, authored publications, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, clinical trial investigation, and Medicare reimbursement to investigate sex differences in the academic allergy and immunology workforce using multilevel logistic regression models. RESULTS:Among 507 academic allergists (9.3% of practicing US allergists in 2014), 323 (63.7%) were men, and 184 (36.3%) were women. Female allergists were younger (47.9 vs 56.9 years, P < .001), had fewer total (12.5 vs 28.7, P < .001) and first/last author (8.0 vs 21.5, P < .001) average publications, were less likely to have NIH funding (13.0% vs 23.5%, P = .004), were less frequently a clinical trial investigator (10.3% vs 16.1%, P = .07), and generated less average annual Medicare revenue ($44,000 vs $23,000, P = .10). Of 152 (30.0%) full professors, 126 (82.9%) were male, and 26 (17.0%) were female. After multivariable adjustment, rates of full professorship among female and male allergists were not significantly different (absolute adjusted difference for female vs male allergists, 6.0%; 95% CI, -8.3% to 20.2%). CONCLUSIONS:Among allergists with US medical school faculty appointments, men and women were similarly likely to be full professors after accounting for factors influencing promotion. Underlying differences in research productivity and NIH funding not explained by age differences alone warrant additional investigation.

SUBMITTER: Blumenthal KG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7517607 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sex differences in academic rank in allergy/immunology.

Blumenthal Kimberly G KG Huebner Emily M EM Banerji Aleena A Long Aidan A AA Gross Nate N Kapoor Neena N Blumenthal Daniel M DM

The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 20190703 6

<h4>Background</h4>Female physicians are significantly less likely than male physicians to be full professors, even after accounting for age, experience, specialty, and measures of research and clinical productivity.<h4>Objective</h4>We sought to evaluate sex differences in academic rank in the allergy and immunology workforce.<h4>Methods</h4>We used a cross-sectional physician data set containing the allergist's sex, age, years since residency, faculty appointment, authored publications, Nation ...[more]

PMID: 31279008

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Project description:ImportanceThe proportion of women at the rank of full professor in US medical schools has not increased since 1980 and remains below that of men. Whether differences in age, experience, specialty, and research productivity between sexes explain persistent disparities in faculty rank has not been studied.ObjectiveTo analyze sex differences in faculty rank among US academic physicians.Design, setting, and participantsWe analyzed sex differences in faculty rank using a cross-sectional comprehensive database of US physicians with medical school faculty appointments in 2014 (91,073 physicians; 9.1% of all US physicians), linked to information on physician sex, age, years since residency, specialty, authored publications, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and clinical trial investigation. We estimated sex differences in full professorship, as well as a combined outcome of associate or full professorship, adjusting for these factors in a multilevel (hierarchical) model. We also analyzed how sex differences varied with specialty and whether differences were more prevalent at schools ranked highly in research.ExposuresPhysician sex.Main outcomes and measuresAcademic faculty rank.ResultsIn all, there were 30,464 women who were medical faculty vs 60,609 men. Of those, 3623 women (11.9%) vs 17,354 men (28.6%) had full-professor appointments, for an absolute difference of -16.7% (95% CI, -17.3% to -16.2%). Women faculty were younger and disproportionately represented in internal medicine and pediatrics. The mean total number of publications for women was 11.6 vs 24.8 for men, for a difference of -13.2 (95% CI, -13.6 to -12.7); the mean first- or last-author publications for women was 5.9 vs 13.7 for men, for a difference of -7.8 (95% CI, -8.1 to -7.5). Among 9.1% of medical faculty with an NIH grant, 6.8% (2059 of 30,464) were women and 10.3% (6237 of 60,609) were men, for a difference of -3.5% (95% CI, -3.9% to -3.1%). In all, 6.4% of women vs 8.8% of men had a trial registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, for a difference of -2.4% (95% CI, -2.8% to -2.0%). After multivariable adjustment, women were less likely than men to have achieved full-professor status (absolute adjusted difference in proportion, -3.8%; 95% CI, -4.4% to -3.3%). Sex-differences in full professorship were present across all specialties and did not vary according to whether a physician's medical school was ranked highly in terms of research funding.Conclusions and relevanceAmong physicians with faculty appointments at US medical schools, there were sex differences in academic faculty rank, with women substantially less likely than men to be full professors, after accounting for age, experience, specialty, and measures of research productivity.

Project description:BackgroundStudies demonstrate that women physicians are less likely than men to be full professors. Comprehensive evidence examining whether sex differences in faculty rank exist in academic cardiology, adjusting for experience and research productivity, is lacking. Therefore, we evaluated for sex differences in faculty rank among a comprehensive, contemporary cohort of US cardiologists after adjustment for several factors that impact academic advancement, including measures of clinical experience and research productivity.MethodsWe identified all US cardiologists with medical school faculty appointments in 2014 by using the American Association of Medical Colleges faculty roster and linked this list to a comprehensive physician database from Doximity, a professional networking website for doctors. Data on physician age, sex, years since residency, cardiology subspecialty, publications, National Institutes of Health grants, and registered clinical trials were available for all academic cardiologists. We estimated sex differences in full professorship, adjusting for these factors and medical school-specific fixed effects in a multivariable regression model.ResultsAmong 3810 cardiologists with faculty appointments in 2014 (13.3% of all US cardiologists), 630 (16.5%) were women. Women faculty were younger than men (mean age, 48.3 years versus 53.5 years, P<0.001), had fewer total publications (mean number: 16.5 publications versus 25.2 publications; P<0.001), were similarly likely to have National Institutes of Health funding (proportion with at least 1 National Institutes of Health award, 10.8% versus 10.4%; P=0.77), and were less likely to have a registered clinical trial (percentage with at least 1 clinical trial, 8.9% versus 11.1%; P=0.10). Among 3180 men, 973 (30.6%) were full professors in comparison with 100 (15.9%) of 630 women. In adjusted analyses, women were less likely to be full professors than men (adjusted odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.43-0.94; P=0.02; adjusted proportions, 22.7% versus 26.7%; absolute difference, -4.0%; 95% confidence interval, -7.5% to -0.7%).ConclusionsAmong cardiology faculty at US medical schools, women were less likely than men to be full professors after accounting for several factors known to influence faculty rank.

Project description:ObjectiveMany studies have analysed gender bias in academic medicine; however, no comprehensive synthesis of the literature has been performed. We conducted a pooled analysis of the difference in the proportion of men versus women with full professorship among academic physicians.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesMEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Education Resources Information Center and PsycINFO were searched from inception to 3 July 2020.Study selectionAll original studies reporting faculty rank stratified by gender worldwide were included.Data extraction and synthesisStudy screening, data extraction and quality assessment were performed by two independent reviewers, with a third author resolving discrepancies. Meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects models.ResultsOur search yielded 5897 articles. 218 studies were included with 991 207 academic physician data points. Men were 2.77 times more likely to be full professors (182 271/643 790 men vs 30 349/251 501 women, OR 2.77, 95% CI 2.57 to 2.98). Although men practised for longer (median 18 vs 12 years, p<0.00002), the gender gap remained after pooling seven studies that adjusted for factors including time in practice, specialty, publications, h-index, additional PhD and institution (adjusted OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.20). Meta-regression by data collection year demonstrated improvement over time (p=0.0011); however, subgroup analysis showed that gender disparities remain significant in the 2010-2020 decade (OR 2.63, 95% CI 2.48 to 2.80). The gender gap was present across all specialties and both within and outside of North America. Men published more papers (mean difference 17.2, 95% CI 14.7 to 19.7), earned higher salaries (mean difference $33 256, 95% CI $25 969 to $40 542) and were more likely to be departmental chairs (OR 2.61, 95% CI 2.19 to 3.12).ConclusionsGender inequity in academic medicine exists across all specialties, geographical regions and multiple measures of success, including academic rank, publications, salary and leadership. Men are more likely than women to be full professors after controlling for experience, academic productivity and specialty. Although there has been some improvement over time, the gender disparity in faculty rank persists.Prospero registration numberCRD42020197414.

Project description:BackgroundA dysbiosis in the intestinal microbiome plays a role in the pathogenesis of several immunological diseases. These diseases often show a sex bias, suggesting sex differences in immune responses and in the intestinal microbiome. We hypothesized that sex differences in immune responses are associated with sex differences in microbiota composition.MethodsFecal microbiota composition (MITchip), mRNA expression in intestinal tissue (microarray), and immune cell populations in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) were studied in male and female mice of two mouse strains (C57B1/6OlaHsd and Balb/cOlaHsd). Transcriptomics and microbiota data were combined to identify bacterial species which may potentially be related to sex-specific differences in intestinal immune related genes.ResultsWe found clear sex differences in intestinal microbiota species, diversity, and richness in healthy mice. However, the nature of the sex effects appeared to be determined by the mouse strain as different bacterial species were enriched in males and females of the two strains. For example, Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacteroides distasonis were enriched in B6 females as compared to B6 males, while Bifidobacterium was enriched BALB/c females as compared to BALB/c males. The strain-dependent sex effects were also observed in the expression of immunological genes in the colon. We found that the abundance of various bacteria (e.g., Clostridium leptum et rel.) which were enriched in B6 females positively correlated with the expression of several genes (e.g., Il-2rb, Ccr3, and Cd80) which could be related to immunological functions, such as inflammatory responses and migration of leukocytes. The abundance of several bacteria (e.g., Faecalibacterium prausnitzii et rel. and Coprobacillus et rel.- Clostridium ramosum et rel.) which were enriched in BALB/c males positively correlated to the expression of several genes (e.g., Apoe, Il-1b, and Stat4) related to several immunological functions, such as proliferation and quantity of lymphocytes. The net result was the same, since both mouse strains showed similar sex induced differences in immune cell populations in the MLNs.ConclusionsOur data suggests a correlation between microbiota and intestinal immune populations in a sex and strain-specific way. These findings may contribute to the development of more sex and genetic specific treatments for intestinal-related disorders.

Project description:ImportanceDespite equal numbers of men and women entering medical school, women are underrepresented in the upper echelons of academic medicine and receive less compensation and research funding. Citation-related publication productivity metrics, such as the h-index, are increasingly used for hiring, salary, grants, retention, promotion, and tenure decisions. Exploring sex differences in these metrics across academic medicine provides deeper insight into why differences are observed in career outcomes.ObjectiveTo systematically examine the available literature on sex differences in h-index of academic faculty physicians across all medical specialties and all levels of academic rank.Data sourcesMedical literature with the term h-index found in PubMed and published between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2018, was used.Study selectionA PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcomes), PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses), and MOOSE (Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) selection protocol was used to find observational studies that published h-indexes for faculty physicians that were stratified by sex. Studies were excluded if they were review articles, retracted, or unavailable online. Ultimately, 14 of 786 studies (1.78%) met the inclusion criteria.Data extraction and synthesisData from 9 studies across 16 specialties were examined using weighted random-effects meta-analyses. Five studies were excluded because of overlapping specialties with another study or because they were missing appropriate statistics for the meta-analysis. Four of these studies were included in qualitative synthesis to bring the total to 13 studies.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary study outcome was the h-index.ResultsThe meta-analysis included 10 665 North American unique academic physicians across 9 different studies from the years 2009 to 2018. Of the 10 665 physicians, 2655 (24.89%) were women. Summary effect sizes for mean h-indexes of men and women and mean h-index difference between men and women were determined for all faculty physicians and at each academic rank. Overall, female faculty had lower h-indexes than male faculty (mean difference, -4.09; 95% CI, -5.44 to -2.73; P < .001). When adjusting for academic rank, female faculty still had lower h-indexes than male faculty at the ranks of assistant professor (mean difference, -1.3; 95% CI, -1.90 to -0.72; P < .001), associate professor (mean difference, -2.09; 95% CI, -3.40 to -0.78; P = .002), and professor (mean difference, -3.41; 95% CI, -6.24 to -0.58; P = .02).Conclusions and relevanceIn this systematic review and meta-analysis, women had lower h-indexes than men across most specialties and at all academic ranks, but it is unclear why these differences exist. These findings suggest that future investigation should be conducted regarding the causes of lower h-indexes in women and that interventions should be developed to provide a more equitable environment for all physicians regardless of sex.

Dataset Information

Sex differences in academic rank in allergy/immunology.

Publications

Sex differences in academic rank in allergy/immunology.

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