Abstract
Purpose We examined the gender distribution and academic productivity of North American ophthalmology
societies' board members.
Methods Cross-sectional and retrospective study of board members on American and Canadian
ophthalmology societies. In December 2022, data was gathered from society webpages,
online archives, and the Scopus database for publication information.
Results Of the identified 73 board presidents and 876 other board members, 49 (67.1%) board
presidents were men and 24 (32.9%) were women, while 554 (63.2%) other board members
were men and 322 (36.8%) were women (p = 0.53). Overall, board members who were men had significantly higher median h-indexes
(men vs. women: 10 [interquartile range [IQR] = 22] vs. 7 [IQR = 12], p = 0.03) and median publication numbers (men vs. women: 23 [IQR = 84] vs. 14 [IQR = 52.3],
p = 0.01). However, m-quotients (h-index divided by length of academic career) were
not significantly different (men vs. women: 0.46 [IQR = 0.74] vs. 0.50 [IQR = 0.55],
p = 0.67). Overall, a significant increase in the proportion of women board presidents
comparing periods 1942 to 1961 and 2002 to 2021 was observed for all societies combined
(3.1% [2/65] to 23.6% [210/888], p < 0.001).
Conclusion The fraction of women on the academic boards in North American ophthalmology societies
has increased sevenfold over the past 83 years. The gender composition of ophthalmology
society boards is consistent with the gender composition of practicing ophthalmologists
in the United States. Women in board or society positions have comparable academic
output to men. Existing and new efforts to sustain progress in promoting women's representation
and leadership opportunities must continue.
Keywords
equity - diversity - health care workforce - medical education and training - ophthalmology
