Gender Diversity in Hand Surgery Leadership

Abstract

Background: Diversity in leadership drives innovation; however, women are underrepresented in leadership positions across academic medicine. The aim of this study was to assess the current gender representation in hand surgery leadership positions. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of leaders in hand surgery. Leaders were defined as President, Board and Committee members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and the American Association for Hand Surgery, as well as hand surgery fellowship program directors and physician lead editors of peer-reviewed hand journals. The representation of women in leadership was compared to the percentage of female hand fellows over the same period. Years in practice, academic rank, additional degrees, h-index, m-index, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, publications, and citations were compared between male and female leaders. Results: Twenty-nine of 213 leadership positions (13.6%) are held by women which is fewer than would be expected based on hand surgery fellowship composition. Female leaders were earlier in practice than their male counterparts (13.5 ± 5.7 versus 20.8 ± 11.1 years, P < .01). Women were more likely to hold position of assistant professor and less likely to be full professors ( P < .05). There was no gender difference in NIH funding, h-index, m-index, publications, or citations. The greatest gender disparity was at the level of National Society President, which is a title held by only 2 women and 119 men. Conclusions: Gender disparities in hand surgery exist and are accentuated at the leadership level. Further work is needed to decrease leadership promotion disparities between men and women.

Gender diversity in microsurgery academic faculty across the United States

“…Consistent with previous reports in other surgical subspecialties, such as burn surgery hand surgery, and orthopedic surgery, our analysis of the microsurgery field shows that gender disparities within academic faculty persist. (Brisbin et al, 2022; Konanur et al, 2020) Our results show that representation of women in microsurgery trails behind recently reported numbers for other specialties. One of the most cited factors for the lack of women representation include lack of effective mentors.…”

Benchmarking Accomplishments of Presidents Elected to Hand Surgery Societies in the United States

“…The underrepresentation likely stems from a lack of diversity among hand surgery faculty, which will take time to increase. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11…”

“…1 2 3 We also hypothesized that sex and race disparities would exist among elected presidents given the relative limited numbers of diverse candidates among senior academic positions in hand surgery. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ultimately, results from this study may help promote awareness of diversity and inclusion efforts at the highest levels of hand surgery in the United States. Furthermore, electorate bodies of the ASSH and AAHS can make more informed decisions during the elections of future presidents.…”

“…At the same time, there is renewed interest to promote diversity and inclusion in hand surgery especially among the most visible leaders of the specialty. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11…”

Racial/Ethnic and Gender Disparities Over the Last Decade Within Microsurgery and Craniofacial Fellowship Training

“…13 Unfortunately, gender representation still lags behind at the faculty and leadership level. 14,15 This is reflected as well with only 14.8% of speakers at plastic surgery meetings being women. 16 There is a disproportionately low rate of women obtaining academic careers and participating in the academic realm.…”