Abstract
Purpose :
The underrepresentation of women has been observed in several medical societies but has not been examined yet in ophthalmology research.
This retrospective, observational study examined the gender of awardees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) over the past 70 years. More specifically, we determined trends in gender distribution of awards by award category (achievement, public service, research) and awardees’ individual characteristics (country of affiliated institution, level of education).
Methods :
Award data were compiled from lists displayed on the official ARVO society website. Award details were collected, including: name, society, specialty/subspecialty, description, category (designated based on the award name and description), year(s), and demographic type. Professional websites (ex. LinkedIn, Twitter, ResearchGate, university pages, conference pages, private practice pages, newspapers) were searched to extract a gender-specific pronoun and photograph of each awardee.
Results :
This study analyzed 13 different awards given to 299 awardees. 43 (14.4%) awardees were women and 254 awardees (85.6%) were men.
Of 248 achievement awards recognizing an individual’s overall contribution, 32 (12.9%) awards were given to women and 216 (87.1%) were given to men. Of 43 research awards recognizing scientific advancement, including the best abstract or publication, 11 (25.6%) were given to women and 32 (74.4%) were given to men. Of 8 public service awards, recognizing humanitarianism or volunteer efforts, none were given to women.
In years with relevant sample size (n>2), the smallest gender gap was in 2010 (37.5% women, 62.5% men).
Most awardees were affiliated with a US institution. Amongst 250 domestic awardees, 36 (14.4%) were women. In the case of 49 international awardees, 7 (14.3%) were women.
Awardees with only an MD degree (n=96, 32.3% of total) were mostly men (93.8%), as were awardees with only a PhD or equivalent degree (n=91, 30.6% of total, 84.6% men). Finally, awardees with both degrees (n=44, 14.8% of total) were also often men (86.4%).
Conclusions :
Overall, women were underrepresented in awards given (<50%), even when stratified by category (<25.6% women) or individual characteristics (<15.4% by degree, <14.4% by country of affiliated institutions). These findings suggest a need for greater and more conscious representation in ophthalmology.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.