Oncel Deniz, Syal Sapna, Oncel Damla, Reyes Nelson A, Acikalin Banu
Department of Ophthalmology, Stritch School of Medicine - Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, USA.
Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA.
Cureus. 2023 Jun 4;15(6):e39936. doi: 10.7759/cureus.39936. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Background and objective While men outnumber women in the specialty of ophthalmology in general, the subspecialty of vitreoretinal surgery in particular has the highest percentage of men across all ophthalmic subspecialties. This study aimed to analyze the gender disparities regarding the publication productivity and academic rank of academic vitreoretinal specialists in the United States (US). Methods This cross-sectional study evaluated 116 ophthalmology residency programs in the US participating in the 2022 San Francisco Match. The academic vitreoretinal faculty from each ophthalmology residency program was included. The information on gender, academic rank, and publication activity in terms of the h-index were collected from institutional websites, the Scopus database, and the National Library of Medicine PubMed website. Results A total of 467 academic vitreoretinal specialists were identified. Among them, 345 (73.9%) were men, and 122 (26.1%) were women (p<0.001). When the academic ranks were analyzed, a higher number of men (43.8%) were found to hold the rank of full professor as compared to women. Furthermore, a higher number of women (47.5%) were found to hold the rank of assistant professor as compared to their male colleagues. Regarding the number of publications, in all academic rank categories, women had a significantly lower number of publications compared to men (p<0.001). Men also had a higher publication productivity or scholarly impact [h-index=15.2 ± 0.82 standard error of the mean (SEM)] compared to women (h-index=12.8 ± 0.99 SEM) (p=0.0004). Higher h-index correlated with higher academic rank, from assistant professor through full professor (p<0.001). Conclusion The field of vitreoretinal surgery has significantly fewer women compared to men, with women producing fewer publications and having less scholarly impact. H-index and total number of publications are also associated with a higher academic rank. Furthermore, full professors are more likely to be men, while assistant professors are more likely to be women. Future efforts should be aimed at reducing the gender disparity in vitreoretinal surgery.
背景与目的 虽然总体上眼科专业领域男性人数超过女性，但在所有眼科亚专业中，玻璃体视网膜手术亚专业的男性比例最高。本研究旨在分析美国学术性玻璃体视网膜专科医生在发表论文产出率和学术职称方面的性别差异。方法 这项横断面研究评估了参与2022年旧金山配对的美国116个眼科住院医师培训项目。纳入了每个眼科住院医师培训项目的学术性玻璃体视网膜教员。从机构网站、Scopus数据库和美国国立医学图书馆PubMed网站收集了关于性别、学术职称以及以h指数衡量的发表活动的信息。结果 共识别出467名学术性玻璃体视网膜专科医生。其中，345名（73.9%）为男性，122名（26.1%）为女性（p<0.001）。在分析学术职称时，发现担任正教授职称的男性人数（43.8%）高于女性。此外，发现担任助理教授职称的女性人数（47.5%）高于其男性同事。关于发表论文数量，在所有学术职称类别中，女性的发表论文数量均显著低于男性（p<0.001）。男性的发表论文产出率或学术影响力也高于女性[h指数=15.2±0.82平均标准误（SEM）]（h指数=12.8±0.99 SEM）（p=0.0004）。从助理教授到正教授，h指数越高与学术职称越高相关（p<0.001）。结论 与男性相比，玻璃体视网膜手术领域的女性明显较少，女性发表的论文较少且学术影响力较小。h指数和发表论文总数也与较高的学术职称相关。此外，正教授更可能是男性，而助理教授更可能是女性。未来应致力于减少玻璃体视网膜手术中的性别差异。
