Gender equity in academic dermatology: Problems aplenty, yet paths ahead

Abstract

Efforts to achieve gender equity of health professionals should be a priority in all fields of medicine, including academic dermatology. This review aimed, first, to summarize available evidence about the status of gender equity in various domains of academic dermatology—headship positions, salary, editor and editorial board appointments, publications, conference presentations, receipt of research grants and academic prizes—second, to identify challenges to achieving gender equity and, third, to articulate the components of a multifaceted strategy for gender parity. A variety of databases were searched. Manual searching of reference lists and searching of grey literature were also undertaken. It was found that, despite improvements in some domains, the gender inequity persists in all of the above‐mentioned areas of academic dermatology. Challenges to achieve gender parity include time in pregnancy, disproportionate participation in childrearing and domestic tasks compared with men, suboptimal legislation in many jurisdictions for parenting and childcare leave, and unconscious biases about women. Elements of a multipronged approach include strengthening women's dermatology societies that advocate for women in academia; celebrating the careers of distinguished female academic dermatologists; mentoring; promoting leadership courses; striving for a greater representation of women among editors‐in‐chief, authors, and conference presenters, among others; seeking better pay, leave conditions and other work entitlements; conducting high‐quality research about gender inequity in academic dermatology; imposing sanctions for violations of gender equity; supporting dermatologists' health; and learning from the experience of other fields of academic medicine.