June 2022
Volume 63, Issue 7
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2022
Gender Trends in Visiting Lectures at Ophthalmology Programs in the United States
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Anthony Marte
    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States
  • Ayobami Adebayo
    Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States
  • Jamie Rosenberg
    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States
  • Wen-Jeng (Melissa) Yao
    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Anthony Marte None; Ayobami Adebayo None; Jamie Rosenberg None; Wen-Jeng (Melissa) Yao None
  • Footnotes
    Support  None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2022, Vol.63, 1073 – A0168. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Anthony Marte, Ayobami Adebayo, Jamie Rosenberg, Wen-Jeng (Melissa) Yao; Gender Trends in Visiting Lectures at Ophthalmology Programs in the United States. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2022;63(7):1073 – A0168.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose : The current rate of female ophthalmologists in the United States is 26.7%. Gaps in female representation still exist in ophthalmology with regards to appointment of senior faculty positions and chairpersons. Invited lectures are an important factor in career advancement. This report examines the gender differences in faculty invited to give visiting lectures at top ophthalmology programs in the United States.

Methods : This retrospective observational study analyzed the invited lectures at 20 ophthalmology programs from January 2019 - June 2022. The top 20 institutions on the Doximity Residency Navigator reputation ranking were selected for inclusion in this study. Institution websites were queried for ophthalmology lecture events. Examples include grand rounds lectures, eponymous visiting professor lectures, and featured presentations at institutional conferences. The names, years since completion of training, and genders of visiting faculty were recorded. Chi-square test and student t-test were used for data analysis. Primary analysis focused on the proportion of female invited lectures.

Results : Of the 20 institutions selected, 13 had publicly-available information on their websites about their lectures, which yielded a sample size of 200 invited lectures. Of those 200 lectures, 29.5% were given by female faculty members, which was similar to the ratio of female ophthalmologists (p=0.8750). When examining only the eponymous lectureships, there was a trend toward fewer women, with only 2 of the 20 listed given by women, although the comparison with overall rates of women in ophthalmology was not statistically significantly different (p=0.4075). Female lecturers were found to have completed their training more recently than non-female lecturers on average, 2002 compared to 1995 (p < 0.001).

Conclusions : Overall, female representation in the invited lectures of our sample matches overall female representation in ophthalmology. The more prestigious eponymous lectureships did show a trend toward fewer women, although it was not statistically significant. It is possible that a larger sample size would show a statistically significant difference in this type of lecture. Future research should focus on both identifying gender ratios and in determining best practices for rectifying any discrepancies.

This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.

×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×