Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;28(9):993-1000.
doi: 10.1111/acem.14221. Epub 2021 Mar 3.

Here to chair: Gender differences in the path to leadership

Kinjal N Sethuraman  1 , Michelle Lin  2 , Kirsten Rounds  3 , Andrea Fang  4 , Michelle D Lall  5 , Melissa Parsons  6 , Judith A Linden  7 , Kamal Gursahani  8 , Neha Raukar  9 , Sarah M Perman  10 , Valerie A Dobiesz  11
Affiliations
Free article

Here to chair: Gender differences in the path to leadership

Kinjal N Sethuraman et al. Acad Emerg Med. 2021 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

Objective: Career paths leading to department chair positions are elusive. Women represent only 11% of academic emergency department (ED) chairs. It is unclear whether the pathway to chair is different for men and women; the characteristics, achievements, and qualifications among those who become ED chairs is unknown.

Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of curriculum vitae (CV) of current ED chairs in departments with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited residency programs. Former women chairs were included due to paucity of current women chairs. Statistics were calculated using bivariate and multivariate analysis.

Results: Of 163 eligible chairs, 88 CV (54%) were obtained, including six former women chairs. A majority (86.4%) self-identified as White/Caucasian, 21.5% were women, 46% were chief residents, 28.4% completed additional postgraduate degrees, and 21.8% were fellowship trained. At time of chair appointment, 58% were professor rank, 53.5% held ED operations roles, and 32% served as vice chair. Women were more likely to be in educational (53% vs. 22%) versus operational (26% vs. 61%, p = 0.02) roles. Women obtained more advanced degrees (47% vs. 25%, p = 0.02), were awarded more nonfederal grants (median = 7 vs. 3, p = 0.04), and achieved more national committee leadership (median = 4 vs. 1, p = 0.02). There were no gender differences in fellowship training, awards, leadership training programs, publications, federal grants, or national/international lectures after adjusting for years in practice.

Conclusion: While the majority of chairs held prior leadership roles in ED operations, only one in five women chairs did, suggesting gender differences in the path to chair attainment. These differences in paths may contribute to persistent gender disparities in ED chairs and may be influenced by career path choices, implicit bias, and structural barriers.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Pyramid: Women in S&P 500 Companies. Catalyst: Workplaces That Work for Women website. January 15, 2020. Accessed May 1, 2020. https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-sp-500-companies/.
    1. Carr PL, Raj A, Kaplan SE, Terrin N, Breeze JL, Freund KM. Gender differences in academic medicine: retention, rank, and leadership comparisons from the National Faculty Survey. Acad Med. 2018;93(11):1694-1699.
    1. The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity. Catalyst website. Published online 2004. Accessed xxx xx, 2020. https://www.catalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/The_Bottom_Line_Conn...
    1. Morahan P, Bickel J. Capitalizing on women’s intellectual capital in the professions. Acad Med. 2002;77(2):110-112.
    1. White FS, McDade S, Yamagata H, Morahan PS. Gender-related differences in the pathway to and characteristics of U.S. medical school deanships. Acad Med. 2012;87(8):1015-1023.

LinkOut - more resources