Eliminating Gender-Based Bias in Academic Medicine: More Than Naming the “Elephant in the Room”

Abstract

Gender-based discrimination and bias are widespread in professional settings, including academic medicine. Overt manifestations such as sexual harassment have long been identified but attention is only more recently turning towards subtler forms of bias, including inequity in promotion and compensation. Barriers to progress vary across institutions and include lack of awareness, inadequate training, poor informational transparency, and challenging power dynamics. We propose five solutions that the academic medical community can adopt to not only name, but also address, gender-based bias as the proverbial elephant in the room: definitively identify the systemic nature of the problem, prompt those with influence and power to advance a culture of equity, broadly incorporate evidence-based explicit anti-sexist training, increase transparency of information related to professional development and compensation, and use robust research methods to study the drivers and potential solutions of gender inequity within academic medicine. While implementing these proposals is no small task, doing so is an important step in helping the academic medical community become more just.

Gender Differences in Retention and Promotion Among Generalists Who Graduated From Research-Intensive Fellowships

“…For example, recognition allows academic communities to institute training to address explicit and implicit bias that might contribute to gender disparities in hiring or promotion. 24,25 Our results contrast with the theory that mentorship networks are major mechanisms for explaining gender disparities. Prior research identified an association between mentor-mentee dynamics and success among careers in the life sciences.…”

Toward an understanding of sexual harassment in neurosurgery

“…The seriousness is further suggested by the fact that nearly 40% of those reporting harassment have experienced this behavior more than 10 times. This confirms many other studies that have identified high rates of sexual harassment in faculty, 1,2,12,[17][18][19][20][21] residents, 3,5,6,9,22,23 and medical students 7-10, 24,25 and within other specialties. 5,18,26 One meta-analysis indicated a similar rate with a pooled prevalence of 59.5%.…”

Moving the Needle on Gender Equity: a Call for Personal and Organizational Action

“…1 Their report highlights key findings of all grantees of the Research Partnership on Women in Science Careers, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding vehicle to investigate factors impeding the professional advancement of women in medicine and science. 2,3 The conclusions and recommendations are particularly compelling since these authors have generated most of the academic medical literature on this subject in the last five years.…”