Gender disparity in editorial boards of scientific journals in endocrinology

Gender Disparities Among Editorial Boards of International Urology Journals

BACKGROUND

Gender composition among surgical academic leadership, including academic medical journals, disproportionately favors men and may inadvertently introduce a bias. An understanding of the factors associated with gender representation among urologic journals may aid in prioritizing an equitable balance.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate female representation on editorial boards of pre-eminent international urologic journals.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

The names and position descriptions of urologic journal leadership appointees were collected in October 2021. Gender was assessed using gender-api.com or through personal title, as available. Journal characteristics were summarized using SCImago, a bibliometric indicator database extracted from Scopus journal data.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to describe associations between SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) quartile and geographic region with female gender representation. Quartile 1 (Q1) was considered the top quartile and Q4 the bottom quartile concordant with journal impact factor.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

A total of 105 urology-focused journals were identified with 5989 total editorial board members, including 877 (14.6%) female, 5112 (85.4%) male, and two nonbinary persons. Female representation differed significantly by journal leadership position, SJR quartile, and geographic region. On the multivariate analysis of overall female representation, Q1 journals had higher odds of female representation than Q2 and Q3 journals, and had no significant difference from Q4 journals. Additionally, compared with Western Europe, North American journals had 78% higher odds while Asiatic journals had 50% lower odds of female representation. This study is limited by the inability to account for outside factors that lead to invitation or acceptance of journal leadership positions.

CONCLUSIONS

Contemporary female leadership at urology journals is about six times less common than male leadership across all journals, although trends in their proportion were noted when assessed by journal quartile and region. Addressing this gender imbalance represents an important step toward achieving gender equity in the field of urology.

PATIENT SUMMARY

In this study, we looked at the gender balance of academic journal leaders who serve as gatekeepers for sharing urologic research with the public. We found that the most prestigious journals and those in western countries tended to have the highest female representation. We hope that these findings help the academic community recognize and improve gender representation.

Female Representation: Australian Diabetes and Endocrinology Societies

BACKGROUND

Endocrinology has one of the highest proportions of female specialists and trainees, however females have traditionally been underrepresented in leadership positions and as speakers at scientific meetings.

HYPOTHESIS

Females would represent less than half of invited speakers (plenary, symposium sessions) at endocrinology conferences and in leadership positions of endocrinology societies.

METHOD

An audit of Australian diabetes and endocrinology societies and their respective annual scientific meetings between 2016 - 2020. Analysis of the gender of conference speakers across oral, symposium and plenary sessions, session chairs, program organising committees and society committees.

RESULTS

A total of 1638 speakers (females 856, 52.3%) across 550.4 hours (females 273.6, 49.7%) of presentations at the conferences were identified. Among plenary sessions of all 3 societies there were more male (61%) than female speakers. A total of 608 session chairs were identified, with 313 (51.5%) females. The majority of organising committee members (n=116) were female (56%), however the representation across each organising committee varied. There was a low proportion of society female council members (39% female).

CONCLUSION

There was an equal representation of females and males as conference speakers and session chairs. However, there was an underrepresentation of women in more prestigious roles of plenary speakers and society council members. We implore conscious efforts to address this disparity.