Gender Disparity Among Leaders of Canadian Academic Radiology Departments.

OBJECTIVE. Underrepresentation of women in the top hierarchy of academic medicine exists despite women comprising more than half of the medical school graduates and residency positions. The purpose of this study is to analyze and quantify the relationship of gender, research productivity, and career advancement in Canadian academic radiology departments. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Seventeen academic radiology departments with affiliated residency programs in Canada were searched for publicly available data on faculty to generate a database for gender and academic profiles of the radiologists. Bibliometric data were collected using Scopus archives. The associations of gender, academic ranks, and leadership positions were assessed, and a p value of ≤ 0.05 was defined as significant. Significant variables were analyzed using a multivariate linear regression model. RESULTS. Of 1266 faculty members, gender information and academic rank were available for 932 faculty members: 597 (64.05%) were men and 335 (35.95%) were women (χ2 = 21.82; p < 0.0001). Of a total of 563 assistant professors, 331 (58.79%) were men and 232 (41.21%) were women; of 258 associate professors, 177 (68.60%) were men and 81 (31.40%) were women; and of 111 professors, 89 (80.18%) were men and 22 (19.82%) were women. The gender gap widens at higher academic ranks, displaying a threefold drop in the ratio of women holding the rank of full professor (6.57%) compared with 14.91% male professors; 29.55% of women radiologists have first-in-command leadership positions compared with 70.45% of men. A comparable or higher h-index is noted for women Canadian radiologists after adjusting for number of citations, number of publications, and years of active research. CONCLUSION. Canadian academic radiology departments have fewer women radiologists in senior faculty and leadership positions. Our study results show that Canadian female radiologists at the professor level have more publications than their male counterparts.

Promoting Greater Diversity and Inclusion in Radiology Research: A Survey of the American Association for Women Radiologists.

OBJECTIVES: To assess perceived challenges to radiology research and publication by female radiologists, as well as possible strategies for overcoming these challenges. METHODS: An electronic survey was conducted of female nontrainee members of the American Association for Women Radiologists in September and October, 2017. Respondents were recruited by e-mail. Responses were assessed descriptively. RESULTS: The response rate was 31.8% (89/280). 61.4% of respondents were interested in conducting radiology research. 60.2% were expected by their departments to pursue research versus 80.7% expected to pursue educational activities. 56.8% felt that their research success is valued by their department. 47.7% felt that they receive appropriate credit for their research from their departments. 22.7% felt that they receive sufficient time for research. 23.9% felt that their department makes deliberate efforts to support women's research efforts. 41.6% versus 70.8% ever had a female versus a male research mentor, respectively. Among seven provided options, the three items most commonly selected as being most helpful to enhancing research success were dedicated research time (40.4%), personal research mentors (23.6%), and earlier career training in research methodology (21.3%). Additional relevant themes identified by a free-response survey item included: family/child-care issues (n = 5), unconscious bias at the departmental/chair level (n = 5), exclusion of women from research activities by male researchers (n = 2), and concern of being perceived as "aggressive" (n = 2). CONCLUSION: Initiatives targeting the identified challenges to radiology research could help promote greater diversity and inclusion among radiologist researchers, which in turn has implications for improving the quality of such research.