Gender Differences in Faculty Rank Among Academic Emergency Physicians in the United States

Abstract

Background

The purpose of this study was to complete a comprehensive analysis of gender differences in faculty rank among United States (U.S.) emergency physicians that reflected all academic emergency physicians.

Methods

We assembled a comprehensive list of academic emergency medicine physicians with U.S. medical school faculty appointments from Doximity. com linked to detailed information on physician gender, age, years since residency completion, scientific authorship, National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding, and participation in clinical trials. To estimate gender differences in faculty rank, multivariable logistic regression models were used that adjusted for these factors.

Results

Our study included 3600 academic physicians (28%, or 1016, female). Female emergency physicians were younger than their male colleagues [mean age, years (+SD), was 43.8 (+ 8.7) for females and 47.4 (+ 9.9) for males (p<0.001)], had fewer years since residency completion (12.4 vs. 15.6 years, p<0.001), had fewer total and first/last author publications [4.7 vs. 8.6 total publications, p<0.001; 4.3 vs. 7.1 first or last author publications, p<0.001], and were less likely to be principal investigators on NIH grants [1.2% vs. 2.9%, p=0.002] or clinical trials [1.8% vs. 4.4%, p<0.001]. In unadjusted analysis, male physicians were more likely than female physicians to hold the rank of Associate or Full Professor vs. Assistant Professor [13.7 percentage point difference, p<0.001], a relationship that persisted after multivariable adjustment [5.5 percentage point difference, p=0.001].

Conclusions

Female academic emergency medicine physicians are less likely to hold the rank of Associate or Full Professor compared to male physicians even after detailed adjustment for other factors that may influence faculty rank.

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