Abstract WP363: Females are Significantly Less Likely to be Invited as Speakers to the International Stroke Conference: Time’s Up to Address Sex Disparity

Abstract

Introduction: Females are underrepresented as speakers at major scientific conferences. Furthermore, in neurology, males outnumber females in academic positions, rank and number of publications, which may influence this inequality. Objective: To evaluate trends in invited speakers by sex at the International Stroke Conference (ISC). Methods: Data were obtained (years 2014-2018) for invited speakers to the ISC from the American Heart Association. Variables included sex, degree, race, speaker institution country, and speaker category. Data were analyzed by chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, or logistic regression. Results: Over 5 years, 1086 individuals with 1283 presentations were invited for invited symposia (83%), pre-conference (11%), debate (5%), and case theater (1%). Females represented a mean of 29% of speakers, which did not vary by year (p=0.99), so years were combined. The highest and lowest proportions of females were in invited symposia (30.4%) and case theater (5.6%). All mid-levels and nurses, but only 17.7% of physician speakers were female. Females were 32.7% of Caucasian speakers and only 16.7% and 12.0% of Black and Hispanic speakers, respectively. The highest and lowest proportions of female speakers were from institutions in South America (50%) and Africa (0%). The proportion of female speakers was highest in nursing (86.4%) and pediatric stroke (45.2%) and lowest in neurocritical care and aneurysm (0%). Grouped, the highest proportion of female speakers was in recovery and rehabilitation (33.5%), and the lowest was in acute care (19%). Males were more likely invited as speakers more than once (p=0.01). Conclusions: Females are less likely invited speakers to the ISC compared to males, especially in fields like critical care, with a smaller female pool. Moreover, females in underrepresented racial groups and female physicians are less often speakers. Increased efforts are warranted to improve sex differences among speakers at the ISC.

Investigation on Gender Differences in Leadership of Stroke-Related Clinical Trials

“…We further examined the gender distribution of PIs in acute versus non-acute stroke trials prompted by results of a recent investigation that revealed significant differences in gender composition of invited speakers at the International Stroke Conference. 14 We classified acute versus nonacute stroke trials based on the methodology of this publication (Table S1) but also incorporated the time frame of the intervention with any intervention being performed within 24 hours considered as acute.…”

Proceedings from the Neurotherapeutics Symposium on Neurological Emergencies: Shaping the Future of Neurocritical Care

“…Neurodisparity is defined as the effect of disparities in neurologic care; [3] it does not only refer to barriers contributed by race and/or ethnicity, but includes disparities influenced by: sex, gender [7], age, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, religion, geographic origin, disability, weight, incarceration, and other social demographic factors [3]. For example, several publications highlight disparities in representation in the American Academy of Neurology recognition awards and of women in leadership roles in neurology [5,6]. Neurocritical care, as a burgeoning discipline, is ripe to lead initiatives to increase awareness of knowledge gaps that will address the needs of diverse patient populations and foster adequate representation in clinical leadership and the neuroscience workforce.…”

“…High-impact translational research is essential for the development of novel therapeutic approaches in neurocritical care. Although it is well known that diversity improves productivity in team science [1][2][3][4], there is still a prominent imbalance in the representation of diverse backgrounds and gender in the neuroscience workforce [5][6][7] and in scientific conferences [6,8]. "The Neurotherapeutics Symposium 2019-Neurological Emergencies" was designed to address these challenges by creating a platform to facilitate the discussion of innovative translational approaches in acute neurologic illnesses, while specifically seeking the participation of women and under represented minorities in the conference planning and development processes.…”

Lack of women physician representation in the Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine

“…The number of original papers, which is an important indicator for evaluating performance such as promotion, was also lower for women physicians than for men physicians, which may make promotion difficult for women physicians 4,5 . In addition, opportunities for women physicians to present and gain recognition at academic meetings are limited, and obtaining grants is difficult 6,7 . The percentage of women presenting at academic meetings is also low; in fact, the number of women first presenters at orthopedic meetings has remained consistently low (11.6% in 2017) 8 …”