Addressing Gender Equity in Senior Leadership Roles in Translational Science

Gender balance in Australian pharmacy organisations: Are we there yet?

Introduction

In the dynamic landscape of healthcare, pharmacists play a critical role in ensuring the well-being of communities, and having solid professional organisations to support pharmacists is essential in crucial activities, including continuing education, advocacy and establishing service standards. Eight pharmacy organisations play vital roles in representing pharmacists in various sectors and collectively contribute to developing, regulating, and promoting the pharmacy profession in Australia. However, a notable lack of female representation in these organisations' leadership roles has led to an increased focus on gender balance and equity.

Objective

To determine if the gender distribution in pharmacy leadership aligns with the pharmacy workforce in Australia (64% women) and how it has changed in the five years since our last study on the issue.

Setting

Australia.

Method

Eight key Australian pharmacy organisations were identified. The website for each organisation was accessed, and data were recorded for their 2023 boards/committees/councils based on annual reports. Data recorded include name, number of males, number of females, and the gender of the president/chair of each board/committee/council.

Results

Data were obtained for 340 separate professional committee members from the eight organisations (including state/territory branches) in 2023. Gender balance in pharmacy organisations has increased significantly since 2018, with women's representation in leadership positions now at 58% (47% 2018).

Conclusion

Gender equity within Australian pharmacy professional organisations has significantly progressed.

Transforming higher education institutions through EDI leadership: A bibliometric exploration

This comprehensive bibliometric study analyzes 1820 journal articles from the Web of Science database to explore Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) leadership in higher education institutions (HEIs). Utilizing co-citation and co-word analysis, the study identifies distinct thematic clusters. The co-citation analysis reveals five key themes: Race, Diversity, and Inclusion (RDI), Diversity, Leadership, and Self-Efficacy (DLSE), Gender Dynamics and Leadership Challenges, Women's Representation in Academic Medicine Leadership, and Transformational Leadership in HEIs. Meanwhile, the co-word analysis highlights three critical areas: Transformative Collaborative Resilience in HEIs, Advancing Gender Equality in Academic Medicine and STEM, and Inclusive Educational Leadership in HEIs. These themes collectively provide a deep understanding of the EDI leadership field's intellectual structure, suggesting significant areas for future research and practical application. The study emphasizes the necessity for HEIs to engage comprehensively in EDI leadership research, shedding light on the importance of transformative collaborative resilience, gender equality in STEM, and inclusive leadership. This research offers valuable insights for developing effective EDI leadership policies and practices, highlighting the interconnectedness of these themes in fostering a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment in higher education and beyond.

Assessing and Addressing Gender Gaps in the American Society for Surgery of the Hand

Gender disparities persist among medical subspecialty societies, including the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). Surgical subspecialties in particular have lagged behind other medical specialties with respect to the number of women in training and practice. Orthopedic surgery, one of the surgical subspecialties making up hand surgery, has the lowest percentage of female residents and faculty among medical subspecialties. Institutions such as the ASSH have an important role in narrowing these gaps by creating environments that welcome female engagement by recognizing and promoting female surgeons into leadership positions. By summarizing demographic data, prior literature, and drawing from examples in other specialties, this article has 3 aims: (1) to review trends in female engagement in the ASSH; (2) outline the strategies that have been implemented to improve gender diversity within the ASSH; and (3) recommend feasible methods to address historical and ongoing barriers to promotion of women within the ASSH.

A roadmap of strategies to support cardiovascular researchers: from policy to practice

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular research has therefore never been more crucial. Cardiovascular researchers must be provided with a research environment that enables them to perform at their highest level, maximizing their opportunities to work effectively with key stakeholders to address this global issue. At present, cardiovascular researchers face a range of challenges and barriers, including a decline in funding, job insecurity and a lack of diversity at senior leadership levels. Indeed, many cardiovascular researchers, particularly women, have considered leaving the sector, highlighting a crucial need to develop strategies to support and retain researchers working in the cardiovascular field. In this Roadmap article, we present solutions to problems relevant to cardiovascular researchers worldwide that are broadly classified across three key areas: capacity building, research funding and fostering diversity and equity. This Roadmap provides opportunities for research institutions, as well as governments and funding bodies, to implement changes from policy to practice, to address the most important factors restricting the career progression of cardiovascular researchers.

Translational researchers' training and development needs, preferences, and barriers: A survey in a National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre in the United Kingdom

The objective was to identify translational researchers’ training and development needs, preferences, and barriers to attending training. This cross‐sectional study involved an online questionnaire survey. The research population comprised a convenience sample of translational researchers and support staff (N = 798) affiliated with the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The response rate was 24%. Of 189 respondents, 114 were women (60%) and 75 were men (40%). The respondents were mainly research scientists (31%), medical doctors and dentists (17%), and research nurses and midwives (16%). Many of the respondents had attended at least one training course in the last year (68%). Training in statistics and data analysis was the most common training received (20%). Leadership training was the most wanted training (25%). Morning was the most preferred time of training (60%). Half a day was the ideal duration of a training course (41%). The main teaching hospital site was the most preferred location of training (46%). An interactive workshop was the most favored delivery style of training (52%). Most common barriers to attending training were the lack of time (31%), work (21%) and clinical commitments (19%), and family and childcare responsibilities (14%). Some differences in training needs, preferences, and barriers were found by gender and role, though these were not statistically significant. Translational researchers want short, easily accessible, and interactive training sessions during the working day. The training needs, preferences, and barriers to attending training need to be considered while developing inclusive training programs in biomedical research settings.

Academic Radiology in the United States: Defining Gender Disparities in Faculty Leadership and Academic Rank

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

Female physicians in academic medicine have faced barriers that potentially affect representation in different fields and delay promotion. Little is known about gender representation differences in United States academic radiology departments, particularly within the most pursued subspecialties.

PURPOSE

To determine whether gender differences exist in United States academic radiology departments across seven subspecialties with respect to academic ranks, departmental leadership positions, experience, and scholarly metrics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this cross-sectional study from November 2018 to June 2020, a database of United States academic radiologists at 129 academic departments in seven subspecialties was created. Each radiologist's academic rank, departmental leadership position (executive-level - Chair, Director, Chief, and Department or Division Head vs vice-level - vice, assistant, or associate positions of executive level), self-identified gender, years in practice, and measures of scholarly productivity (number of publications, citations, and h-index) were compiled from institutional websites, Doximity, LinkedIn, Scopus, and official NPI profiles. The primary outcome, gender composition differences in these cohorts, was analyzed using Chi² while continuous data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test. The adjusted gender difference for all factors was determined using a multivariate logistic regression model.

RESULTS

Overall, 5086 academic radiologists (34.7% women) with a median 14 years of practice (YOP) were identified and indexed. There were 919 full professors (26.1% women, p < 0.01) and 1055 executive-level leadership faculty (30.6% women, p < 0.01). Within all subspecialties except breast imaging, women were in the minority (35.4% abdominal, 79.1% breast, 12.1% interventional, 27.5% musculoskeletal, 22.8% neuroradiology, 45.1% pediatric, and 19.5% nuclear; p < 0.01). Relative to subspecialty gender composition, women full professors were underrepresented in abdominal, pediatric, and nuclear radiology (p < 0.05) and women in any executive-level leadership were underrepresented in abdominal and nuclear radiology (p < 0.05). However, after adjusting for h-index and YOP, gender did not influence rates of professorship or executive leadership. The strongest single predictors for professorship or executive leadership were h-index and YOP.

CONCLUSION

Women academic radiologists in the United States are underrepresented among senior faculty members despite having similar levels of experience as men. Gender disparities regarding the expected number of women senior faculty members relative to individual subspecialty gender composition were more pronounced in abdominal and nuclear radiology, and less pronounced in breast and neuroradiology. Overall, h-index and YOP were the strongest predictors for full-professorship and executive leadership among faculty.

KEY RESULTS

● Though women comprise 34.7% of all academic radiologists, women are underrepresented among senior faculty members (26.1% of full professors and 30.6% of executive leadership) ● Women in junior faculty positions had higher median years of practice than their male counterparts (10 vs 8 for assistant professors, 21 vs 13 for vice leadership) ● Years of practice and h-index were the strongest predictors for full professorship and executive leadership.