Demographic Representation Among Speakers and Program Committee Members at the IDWeek Conference, 2013-2021

Gender disparities in gastroenterology and hepatology conferences: The journey towards equality

BACKGROUND

This study scrutinizes gender representation in invited faculty and conference committee leadership at key gastroenterology and hepatology conferences in Pakistan over five years, exploring the impact of the "glass ceiling" and "sticky floor" phenomena on gender diversity within academic medicine.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March of 2023. The three major national societies of gastroenterology and hepatology in Pakistan that had been established for more than 10 years and the scientific programs of their annual conferences, which were publicly accessible, were included and coded as Society 1, Society 2 and Society 3 to maintain anonymity. The scientific programs for the last five years (2018-2022) were retrieved. The roles of invited faculties were identified as invited speakers, moderators, chairs/panelists, presidents and chairs of organizing or scientific committees and the gender makeup of the faculty was compared. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the trends for female representation over time for each role.

RESULTS

Significant gender disparity was evident by an extremely lower cumulative proportion of female invited faculty compared to males (211 [11.9%] vs. 1567 [88.1%], p 0.001). The predominance of invited male faculty was observed across all societies as well as in various roles of invited faculty (p 0.01). A significant disparity has also been observed in leadership positions of all three societies (43 [95.5%] males vs. 2 [4.5%] females, p 0.001), while the trend of women's underrepresentation across all societies remained almost unchanged over time (slope = 0.08, R2 =  - 0.078, p-value = 0.875).

CONCLUSION

Our study unveils striking gender disparities in women's representation as invited speakers and other roles at the annual scientific conferences of major gastroenterology and hepatology. Additionally, male dominance remains entrenched, notably in leadership positions, necessitating a proactive, multifaceted approach to rectify gender inequities.

Demographic representation among speakers at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) spring conferences

BACKGROUND

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) is a leading medical society for infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship. This descriptive study evaluated speaker demographics at the annual SHEA Spring conferences from 2019 to 2022.

METHODS

This was a retrospective, descriptive analysis of the demographic composition of speakers at the annual SHEA Spring conferences between 2019 and 2022, excluding the cancelled 2020 conference. Self-reported demographics were available for gender, race, ethnicity, age, primary practice setting, and professional degrees in speaker and membership categories.

RESULTS

In total, 447 speaker slots were filled by 305 unique speakers over 3 years. Average annual membership included 55.2% female, 44.8% male, 69.3% White, 21.4% Asian, 6.0% Hispanic/Latino, 2.9% Black, and 0.4% American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AIAN/NHPI); 48.9% did not report a race or ethnicity. Speakers during the same period were 63.5% female, 36.5% male, 68.2% White, 13.3% Asian, 3.8% Black, 3.4% Hispanic/Latino, 0.8% AIAN/NHPI; 13.4% did not report race or ethnicity. In 2021, pharmacists represented 11.6% of speakers (and 2.9% of members) and members with nondoctoral degrees represented 11.6% of speakers (and 21.5% of members) (P < .0001). In each year, we detected underrepresentation of community and private-practice speakers relative to membership (eg, in 2022, 4.3% of speakers vs 15.7% of members; P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The SHEA Spring conferences demonstrated an increase in pharmacist speakers over time, but speakers from community hospitals and with nondoctoral degrees remain underrepresented relative to membership. Racial and ethnic minoritized individuals remain underrepresented as members and speakers. Intentional interventions are needed to consistently achieve equitable speaker representation across multiple demographic groups.