Rationale and Objectives
Although the number of women graduating from medical school continues to increase, their representation in radiology residency programs has not increased over the past 10 years. We examined whether the gender of radiology faculty and residents differed according to the gender of the departmental leadership.
Materials and Methods
We issued an anonymous Web-based survey via e-mail to all 188 radiology residency program directors listed in the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA Online). Data regarding the gender of the department chairperson, residency program director, faculty, and residents were collected. The institutional review board granted a waiver for this study, and all subjects provided informed consent.
Results
Of the 84 program directors who responded, 9 (10.7%) were chaired by females and 75 (89.3%) by males; residency program director positions were held by 36 (42.9%) females and 48 (57.1%) males. More programs were located in the northeastern United States (n = 31, 36.9%) than in any other region, and more were self-described as academic (n = 36, 42.9%) than any other practice type. Programs that were led by a male chairperson had a similar proportion of female faculty (25.2% versus 27.3%; P = .322) and residents (26.2% versus 27.4%; P = .065) compared with those led by a female. Similarly, radiology departments with a male residency program director had a similar proportion of female residents (24.8% versus 28.7%; P = .055) compared with programs with a female residency program director.
Conclusion
The gender composition of radiology faculty and residents does not differ significantly according to the gender of the departmental chairperson or residency program director. Nevertheless, there continues to be a disparity in the representation of women among radiology faculty and residents.
The number of women in medicine and, in particular, academic medicine ( ) has been steadily increasing over the past several decades ( ). This has been particularly true in the field of radiology. Deitch et al. ( ) reported a significant rise in the proportion of female graduates in radiology: 27% of graduates between 1990 and 1995 were women compared with 7% before 1970. More recently, however, results from a 2003 American College of Radiology survey indicated that only 24% of radiology trainees and 18% of practicing radiologists were women ( ). Despite increases in the representation of women until the mid-1990s, the proportion of female residents and faculty, especially in tenured and chairperson positions ( ), continues to lag behind that of men.
Several studies have demonstrated that, compared with male colleagues, women in medicine receive lower salaries ( ), are promoted less rapidly ( ), and less frequently hold the rank of full professor in their departments ( ). It is possible that the proportion of women in medicine is influenced, in part, by the gender composition of the departmental leadership. In 2006, only 10% of academic departments across all medical specialties were led by women ( ). In a recent study of academic emergency medicine departments, it was demonstrated that a department led by a female chairperson was more likely to have a female residency program director (RPD) and a greater proportion of female faculty ( ), suggesting that gender of departmental leadership has a significant effect on the gender of faculty and young trainees. Nevertheless, it remains uncertain whether the gender of radiology department chairperson and/or RPD is associated with the gender composition of faculty and housestaff.
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Materials and methods
Study Population
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Survey Administration
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Table 1
Responses to Survey Questions
Variable Frequency (Percentage) Region Midwest 20/84 (23.8%) Northeast 31/84 (36.9%) South 21/84 (25%) West 12/84 (14.3%) Description of radiology program Academic 36/84 (42.9%) University-affiliated 26/84 (31.0%) Community 17/84 (20.1%) Military 1/84 (1.2%) Other 4/84 (4.8%) Gender of the radiology department chairperson Female 9/84 (10.7%) Male 75/84 (89.3%) Gender of the radiology residency program director Female 36/84 (42.9%) Male 48/84 (57.1%) No. of total faculty members in your radiology department ⁎ n = 3100; mean = 36 ± 25 0–22 30/83 (36.1%) 23–36 25/83 (30.1%) 37–150 28/83 (33.8%) No. of female faculty members in your radiology department ⁎ n = 791; mean = 9 ± 8 0–5 33/83 (39.8%) 6–10 25/83 (30.2%) 11–46 25/83 (30.2%) Total No. of residents in your radiology housestaff (excluding fellows) ⁎ † n = 2083; mean = 25 ± 13 0–17 29/84 (34.5%) 18–30 26/84 (31%) 31–60 29/84 (34.5%) No. of female residents in your radiology housestaff (excluding fellows) ⁎ n = 550; mean = 9 ± 8 0–4 30/84 (35.7%) 5–7 29/84 (34.5%) 8–26 25/84 (29.8%)
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Statistical Analysis
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Results
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Table 2
Association of chairperson and residency program director gender with that of faculty and housestaff
Association Between Gender of the Radiology Department Chairperson and Outcomes Association Between Gender of the Radiology Residency Program Director and Outcomes Female Male_P_ value Female Male_P_ value Female faculty members 143/524 (27.3%) 648/2576 (25.3%) .322 371/1397 (26.6%) 420/1703 (24.7%) .230 Female residents 96/350 (27.4%) 454/1733 (26.2%) .065 245/854 (28.7%) 305/1229 (24.8%) .055
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Discussion
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Conclusion
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
Acknowledgments
Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<
References
1. Kaplan S.H., Sullivan L.M., Dukes K.A., Phillips C.F., Kelch R.P., Schaller J.G.: Sex differences in academic advancement. N Engl J Med 1996; 335: pp. 1282-1289.
2. Nonnemaker L.: Women physicians in academic medicine: New insights from cohort studies. N Engl J Med 2000; 342: pp. 399-405.
3. Brown A.J., Swinyard W., Ogle J.: Women in academic medicine: A report of focus groups and questionnaires, with conjoint analysis. J Womens Health 2003; 12: pp. 999-1008.
4. Magrane D., Lang J., Alexander H.: 2006.Association of American Medical CollegesWashington, D.C Available at http://www.aamc.org/members/wim/statistics/stats06/start.htm .
5. Deitch C.H., Sunshine J.H., Chan W.C., Shaffer K.A.: Women in the radiology profession: Data from a 1995 national survey. AJR Am J Roentgenol 1998; 170: pp. 263-270.
6. Lewis R.S., Bhargavan M., Sunshine J.H.: Women radiologists in the United States: Results from the American College of Radiology’s 2003 Survey. Radiology 2007; 242: pp. 802-810.
7. Vydareny K.H., Waldrop S.M., Jackson V.P., et. al.: Career advancement of men and women in academic radiology: Is the playing field level?. Acad Radiol 2000; 7: pp. 493-501.
8. Wright A.L., Schwindt L.A., Bassford T.L., et. al.: Gender differences in academic advancement: Patterns, causes, and potential solutions in one US college of medicine. Acad Med 2003; 78: pp. 500-508.
9. Ash A.S., Carr P.L., Goldstein R., Friedman R.H.: Compensation and advancement of women in academic medicine: Is there equity?. Ann Intern Med 2004; 141: pp. 205-212.
10. Weeks W.B., Wallace A.E.: Gender differences in diagnostic radiologists’ annual incomes. Acad Radiol 2006; 13: pp. 1266-1273.
11. Buckley L.M., Sanders K., Shih M., Kallar S., Hampton C.: Obstacles to promotion?. Acad Med 2000; 75: pp. 283-288.
12. Hamel M.B., Ingelfinger J.R., Phimister E., Solomon C.G.: Women in academic medicine: Progress and challenges. N Engl J Med 2006; 355: pp. 310-312.
13. McGuire L.K., Bergen M.R., Polan M.L.: Career advancement for women faculty in a US school of medicine: Perceived needs. Acad Med 2004; 79: pp. 319-325.
14. Bickel J., Wara D., Atkinson B.F., et. al.: Increasing women’s leadership in academic medicine: Report of the AAMC Project Implementation Committee. Acad Med 2002; 77: pp. 1044-1061.
15. Magrane D., Lang J.: 2006.Association of American of Medical CollegesWashington, D.C Available at http://www.aamc.org/data/aib/aibissues/aibvol6_no7.pdf .
16. Cheng D., Promes S., Clem K., Shah A., Pietrobon R.: Chairperson and faculty gender in academic emergency medicine departments. Acad Emerg Med 2006; 13: pp. 904-906.
17. 2006.American Medical Association (AMA) Available at http://www.ama-assn.org/go/freida .
18. Shah A., Jacobs D.O., Martins H., et. al.: DADOS-Survey: An open-source application for CHERRIES-compliant Web surveys. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2006; 6: pp. 34.
19. Eysenbach G.: Improving the quality of Web surveys: The Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). J Med Internet Res 2004; 6: pp. e34.
20. Yedidia M.J., Bickel J.: Why aren’t there more women leaders in academic medicine?. Acad Med 2001; 76: pp. 453-465.
21. Vydareny K.H., Waldrop S.M., Jackson V.P., et. al.: The road to success: factors affecting the speed of promotion of academic radiologists. Acad Radiol 1999; 6: pp. 564-569.
22. Baerlocher M.O., Walker M.: Does gender impact upon application rejection rate among Canadian radiology residency applicants?. Can Assoc Radiol J 2005; 56: pp. 232-237.
23. Potterton V.K., Ruan S., Sunshine J.H., Applegate K., Cypel Y., Forman H.P.: Why don’t female medical students choose diagnostic radiology?. J Am Coll Radiol 2004; 1: pp. 583-590.
24. 2006.Association of Program Directors in RadiologyOak Brook, IL Available at http://www.apdr.org/directors/pdffiles/APDR_2006_Annual_Survey-report.pdf .
25. 2007.Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical EducationChicago, IL Available at http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/CMS/cms_index.asp .