Abstract
Background
Much has been written about the under-representation of women in academic medicine.
However, no study has comprehensively described the gender-based trends of National
Institutes of Health funding across surgical specialties; this study provides such
an overview.
Methods
We queried a previously created database to identify both male and female National
Institutes of Health-funded surgeons. Surgical specialties and subspecialties were
determined based upon formal training. Total grant costs and average costs per R01
and K grant were calculated and compared. Bivariate χ2 analyses were performed using population totals.
Results
In 2020, the specialties with the highest proportion of National Institutes of Health-funded
female surgeon-scientists were obstetrics and gynecology (57%) and vascular surgery
(40%). The general surgery subspecialties with the highest proportion of women were
breast (85%), endocrine (58%), and colorectal surgery (40%). An analysis of total
grant costs in 2020 revealed that in most specialties, the proportion of funding held
by women was substantially less than the proportion of women investigators. In obstetrics
and gynecology, women comprised 57% of surgeons, but held only 46% of the funding.
Similarly, in breast surgery, women comprised 85% of surgeons, but held only 45% of
the funding. Women and men had similar changes in the average total cost per R01 and
K grant awarded from 2010 to 2020. In 2020, women were awarded less than men per R01
grant in general, otolaryngology, plastic and reconstructive, urology, and vascular
surgery.
Conclusion
Although female surgeon-scientists have made significant advances in some surgical
specialties, they continue to lag in others. An in-depth analysis of the factors contributing
to these trends is necessary to achieve gender parity across all academic surgical
specialties.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 11, 2022
Accepted:
April 29,
2022
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
