Diversity trends in the leadership of the American Society for Laser Medicine And Surgery, 1996–2021

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the temporal trends in diversity within the ASLMS board of directions from 1996 to 2021. Materials and Methods A list of Board of Directors from 1996 to 2021 was obtained from ASLMS headquarters. Using a composite of publicly available resources through internet searches, board director characteristics, such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, terminal degrees, specialties/field of expertise, and current full‐time affiliations, were recorded. Results One hundred forty‐six unique individuals held 628 ALSMS board member positions from the years 1996‐2021. The median age of the board members started with a median age of 43.0 years old in 1996 to 54.5 years old in 2021. The age spread between first and third quartiles (interquartile range) in each year in more recent years (2014‐2019) was 17.0, 20.0, 18.8, 18.8, 18.0, and 15.3 years, respectively. Female representation started with 10.5% in 1996 to 30.8% in 2021. Diversity, by racial/ethnicity measures, has more representation of Asian (average across 1996‐2010: 2.3% to 2010‐2022: 19.0%) and Hispanic (average 1996‐2010: 0.7% to 2010‐2022: 4.4%) board members. No African American has held a position across these decades. MD holders (average 66.5%) and other degree holders (average 33.5%) have been relatively consistent across all years observed. From 2016 to 2021, dermatologists held board member seats at an average rate of 56.5% across these years, while prior, from 1996 to 2015, 67.3% of board member seats on average were held by members of other expertises. Most board members have full‐time affiliations in private practice across most years observed (average 43.7% across all years observed). Conclusion After analyzing the diversity trends across board members in ASLMS across 1996‐2020, we have noticed overall trends of increased diversity over time that reflect a greater chance of bringing in new ideas and experiences to grow ASLMS. Although the leadership of ASLMS has become significantly more diverse over time, there remain opportunities to increase diversity further, including women, underrepresented ethnic minorities, and other experts of specialties other than dermatology.