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Abstract
Objectives Despite increased participation of women in Medicine in recent decades, there remains gender disparity in Academic Medicine. Our objective was to examine gender diversity in authorship and editorial boards of 2 prominent peer-reviewed Gynecologic Oncology journals.
Methods We performed a bibliometric analysis of original articles published in Gynecologic Oncology(GO) and International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer(IJGC), comparing 2016–2020 to two decades prior (1996). First names and photographs from institutional websites were used to identify subjective gender. Gender distribution was compared using chi-square tests.
Results We included 3022 original articles between 2006–2020, and 201 in 1996. Gender was identified for 93% of first and 94.5% of senior(last) authors. Trends of gender representation in authorship and editorial boards over time are presented in the graphs below. Men were overrepresented as senior authors across both study periods: 93% in 1996, and 58% in 2016–2020. Over time, representation of women as senior authors increased(7% in 1996, 42% in 2016–2020, p<0.00001). This trend was also observed in first authorship(9% in 1996, 57% in 2016–2020, p<0.00001). Men continued to comprise the majority of editorial board members (86% in 1996, 59% in 2020).
Conclusions There is an encouraging trend in female authorship, likely reflective of increased representation in the workforce. Nevertheless, gender disparity persists. This underlines an opportunity for the academic publishing community to participate in advocacy and decisive action to close the ‘gender gap’. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this publication gap is being assessed by our group.