Extensive gender disparity in top medical schools and their affiliated dermatology departments: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundPrevious studies demonstrate female under-representation in top medical school leadership and dermatology departments, although separately. Here, we investigate the extent and interplay of gender disparity between these two bodies.ObjectiveTo compare the extent of gender disparity among top 15 US medical schools with affiliated dermatology programmes.MethodsCross-sectional study conducted in 2022. Faculty gender, academic rank, leadership position and membership of medical school leadership or affiliated dermatology department were extracted from public institutional sources. Research metrics (h-index, citations, publication span and publication counts) were collated using Elsevier’s SCOPUS tool.ResultsFrom 1243 individuals (31.7% women), 840 held medical school leadership positions and 403 were affiliated dermatology faculty. Rank biserial correlation indicated a significant relationship of male gender with higher academic rank (r=−0.305, p<0.001), leadership position (r=0.095, p=0.004) and scholarly metrics. More medical leadership individuals had higher academic rank than dermatology faculty; we, therefore, hypothesise a pipelining of rising departmental faculty into leadership positions.LimitationsPublic faculty listings seldomly reported leadership appointment age and length, career duration and mid-career breaks.ConclusionContinued diversity efforts are recommended to improve female under-representation in medical school leadership and affiliated dermatology faculties.