. 2022 Aug;8(2):e002518.

doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002518.

Gender equity in academic rheumatology, current status and potential for improvement: a cross-sectional study to inform an EULAR task force

Pavel V Ovseiko^{1

2}, Laure Gossec^{3

4}, Laura Andreoli^{5

6}, Uta Kiltz⁷, Leonieke van Mens⁸, Neelam Hassan^{9

10}, Marike van der Leeden¹¹, Heidi J Siddle^{12

13}, Alessia Alunno¹⁴, Iain B McInnes¹⁵, Nemanja S Damjanov¹⁶, Florence Apparailly¹⁷, Caroline Ospelt^{18

19}, Irene E van der Horst-Bruinsma²⁰, Elena Nikiphorou^{21

22}, Katie L Druce²³, Zoltán Szekanecz²⁴, Alexandre Sepriano^{25

26}, Tadej Avcin²⁷, George Bertsias²⁸, Georg Schett^{29

30}, Anne-Maree Keenan^{12

31

32}, Linda H Pololi³³, Laura C Coates^{34

35}

Affiliations

¹ Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
² NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
³ Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, INSERM, Sorbonne Universite, Paris, France.
⁴ Rheumatology Department, APHP.Sorbonne Universite, Hopital Universitaire Pitie Salpetriere, Paris, France.
⁵ Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
⁶ Unit of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
⁷ Department of Rheumatology, Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Ruhr-University Bochum, Herne, Germany.
⁸ Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Rheumatology, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK.
¹⁰ Musculoskeletal Research Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
¹¹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Reade Centre for Rehabilitation and Rheumatology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹² Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
¹³ NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds, UK.
¹⁴ Internal Medicine and Nephrology Unit, Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
¹⁵ Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
¹⁶ University of Belgrade School of Medicine, Medigroup Hospital, Rheumatology, Belgrade, Serbia.
¹⁷ IRMB, University of Montpellier, INSERM, Montpellier, France.
¹⁸ Center of Experimental Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁹ University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²⁰ Department of Rheumatology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
²¹ Rheumatology Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
²² Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
²³ Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
²⁴ Department of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
²⁵ Department of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
²⁶ NOVA Medical School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
²⁷ Department of Allergology, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
²⁸ Department of Rheumatology, Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of Crete Medical School, Heraklion, Greece.
²⁹ Deutsches Zentrum für Immuntherapie, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
³⁰ Department of Internal Medicine 3, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
³¹ School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
³² NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Leeds, UK.
³³ National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine: C-Change, Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁴ NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK laura.coates@ndorms.ox.ac.uk.
³⁵ Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

PMID: 35940824
PMCID: PMC9367178
DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002518

Gender equity in academic rheumatology, current status and potential for improvement: a cross-sectional study to inform an EULAR task force

Pavel V Ovseiko et al. RMD Open. 2022 Aug.

. 2022 Aug;8(2):e002518.

doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002518.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
² NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
³ Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, INSERM, Sorbonne Universite, Paris, France.
⁴ Rheumatology Department, APHP.Sorbonne Universite, Hopital Universitaire Pitie Salpetriere, Paris, France.
⁵ Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
⁶ Unit of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
⁷ Department of Rheumatology, Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Ruhr-University Bochum, Herne, Germany.
⁸ Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Rheumatology, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK.
¹⁰ Musculoskeletal Research Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
¹¹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Reade Centre for Rehabilitation and Rheumatology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹² Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
¹³ NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds, UK.
¹⁴ Internal Medicine and Nephrology Unit, Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
¹⁵ Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
¹⁶ University of Belgrade School of Medicine, Medigroup Hospital, Rheumatology, Belgrade, Serbia.
¹⁷ IRMB, University of Montpellier, INSERM, Montpellier, France.
¹⁸ Center of Experimental Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁹ University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²⁰ Department of Rheumatology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
²¹ Rheumatology Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
²² Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
²³ Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
²⁴ Department of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
²⁵ Department of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
²⁶ NOVA Medical School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
²⁷ Department of Allergology, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
²⁸ Department of Rheumatology, Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of Crete Medical School, Heraklion, Greece.
²⁹ Deutsches Zentrum für Immuntherapie, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
³⁰ Department of Internal Medicine 3, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
³¹ School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
³² NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Leeds, UK.
³³ National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine: C-Change, Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁴ NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK laura.coates@ndorms.ox.ac.uk.
³⁵ Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

PMID: 35940824
PMCID: PMC9367178
DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002518

Abstract

Objectives: Evidence on the current status of gender equity in academic rheumatology in Europe and potential for its improvement is limited. The EULAR convened a task force to obtain empirical evidence on the potential unmet need for support of female rheumatologists, health professionals and non-clinical scientists in academic rheumatology.

Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised three web-based surveys conducted in 2020 among: (1) EULAR scientific member society leaders, (2) EULAR and Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET) members and (3) EULAR Council members. Statistics were descriptive with significance testing for male/female responses assessed by χ² test and t-test.

Results: Data from EULAR scientific member societies in 13 countries indicated that there were disproportionately fewer women in academic rheumatology than in clinical rheumatology, and they tended to be under-represented in senior academic roles. From 324 responses of EULAR and EMEUNET members (24 countries), we detected no gender differences in leadership aspirations, self-efficacy in career advancement and work-life integration as well as the share of time spent on research, but there were gender differences in working hours and the levels of perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment. There were gender differences in the ranking of 7 of 26 factors impacting career advancement and of 8 of 24 potential interventions to aid career advancement.

Conclusions: There are gender differences in career advancement in academic rheumatology. The study informs a EULAR task force developing a framework of potential interventions to accelerate gender-equitable career advancement in academic rheumatology.

Keywords: epidemiology; health services research; qualitative research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Share of time spent by academic rheumatologists on different activities in a typical week by gender, EULAR and EMEUNET members, 120 responses. The respondents were asked to distribute 100 points representing their working hours during a typical week across different activities. EMEUNET, Emerging EULAR Network.

**Figure 2**
Typical self-reported working hours in a week by role and gender, EULAR and EMEUNET members, 323 responses. The box and whisker chart shows distribution of data into quartiles: the top of the boxes indicates the upper quartile, the bottom of the boxes indicates the lower quartile, the lines extending vertically indicate variability outside the upper and lower quartiles, the dots outside those lines indicate outliers, the Xs inside the boxes indicate the mean values and the horizontal lines inside the boxes indicate the median values. EMEUNET, Emerging EULAR Network.

**Figure 3**
Frequencies of responses to the question ‘Please tell us if you have personally experienced in your professional career any gender discrimination or sexual harassment’ by gender, EULAR and EMEUNET members, 323 responses. EMEUNET, Emerging EULAR Network.

**Figure 4**
Means and statistically significant gender differences (p<0.001) for responses to the question ‘Please indicate what impact, if any, the following factors have on your career advancement’ on a 5-point scale from ‘strongly negative’ (−2) to ‘strongly positive’ (2), EULAR and EMEUNET members, 323 responses. The colour gradient represents the range of values: red marks the minimum, yellow the middle and green the maximum values. EMEUNET, Emerging EULAR Network.

**Figure 5**
Means and statistically significant gender differences (p<0.001) for responses to the question ‘Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree that the following interventions would be helpful for your career advancement’ on a 5-point scale from ‘strongly disagree’ (=1) to ‘strongly agree’ (=5) by EULAR and EMEUNET members, 323 responses. *Statistically significant gender differences (p<0.001). ♦Means for responses to the question: ‘Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree that the following interventions would be helpful for EULAR members’ by EULAR Council members, 7 responses. EMEUNET, Emerging EULAR Network.

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Gender equity in academic rheumatology, current status and potential for improvement: a cross-sectional study to inform an EULAR task force

Affiliations

Gender equity in academic rheumatology, current status and potential for improvement: a cross-sectional study to inform an EULAR task force

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Conflict of interest statement

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