. 2023 Feb 15;13(2):e067771.

doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067771.

Global evidence of gender equity in academic health research: a scoping review

Andrea C Tricco^{1

2

3

4}, Vera Nincic⁵, Nazia Darvesh⁵, Patricia Rios⁶, Paul A Khan⁵, Marco M Ghassemi⁵, Heather MacDonald⁵, Fatemeh Yazdi⁵, Yonda Lai⁵, Rachel Warren⁵, Alyssa Austin⁵, Olga Cleary^{5

7}, Nancy N Baxter^{5

8}, Karen E A Burns^{5

9

10}, Douglas Coyle¹¹, Janet A Curran¹², Ian D Graham^{11

13}, Gillian Hawker^{4

14}, France Légaré^{15

16}, Jennifer Watt^{5

17

18}, Holly O Witteman^{15

16

19}, Jocalyn P Clark^{18

20}, Ivy L Bourgeault²¹, Jeanna Parsons Leigh²², Sofia B Ahmed²³, Karen Lawford²⁴, Alice B Aiken^{25

26}, Etienne V Langlois²⁷, Christopher McCabe^{28

29}, Sasha Shepperd³⁰, Becky Skidmore³¹, Reena Pattani^{18

32}, Natalie Leon^{33

34}, Jamie Lundine²¹, Évèhouénou Lionel Adisso³⁵, Wafa El-Adhami³⁶, Sharon E Straus^{5

17}

Affiliations

¹ Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Andrea.tricco@unityhealth.to.
² Epidemiology Division and Institute for Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Queen's Collaboration for Health Care Quality Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Independent Researcher, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Centre for Health Policy and Management, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁸ Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
⁹ Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ HEI, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
¹¹ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Department of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
¹³ Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁵ Vitam Research Centre in Sustainable Health, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁶ Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universite Laval, Quebec, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁷ Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁹ Office of Education and Professional Development, Université Laval, Quebec City, Québec, Canada.
²⁰ The Lancet Ltd, London, London, UK.
²¹ University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
²² School of Health Administration, Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
²³ Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
²⁴ Department of Gender Studies, Queen's University, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek Territories, Settlement of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
²⁵ Department of Research and Innovation, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
²⁶ School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
²⁷ Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), WHO, Geneve, Switzerland.
²⁸ Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
²⁹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
³⁰ Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³¹ Independent Information Specialist, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
³² Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³³ Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa.
³⁴ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
³⁵ Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universite Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
³⁶ Science in Australia Gender Equity Limited, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

PMID: 36792322
PMCID: PMC9933760
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067771

Global evidence of gender equity in academic health research: a scoping review

Andrea C Tricco et al. BMJ Open. 2023.

. 2023 Feb 15;13(2):e067771.

doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067771.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Andrea.tricco@unityhealth.to.
² Epidemiology Division and Institute for Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Queen's Collaboration for Health Care Quality Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Independent Researcher, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Centre for Health Policy and Management, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁸ Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
⁹ Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ HEI, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
¹¹ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Department of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
¹³ Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁵ Vitam Research Centre in Sustainable Health, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁶ Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universite Laval, Quebec, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁷ Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁸ Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁹ Office of Education and Professional Development, Université Laval, Quebec City, Québec, Canada.
²⁰ The Lancet Ltd, London, London, UK.
²¹ University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
²² School of Health Administration, Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
²³ Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
²⁴ Department of Gender Studies, Queen's University, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek Territories, Settlement of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
²⁵ Department of Research and Innovation, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
²⁶ School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
²⁷ Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), WHO, Geneve, Switzerland.
²⁸ Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
²⁹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
³⁰ Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³¹ Independent Information Specialist, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
³² Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³³ Health Systems Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa.
³⁴ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
³⁵ Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universite Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
³⁶ Science in Australia Gender Equity Limited, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

PMID: 36792322
PMCID: PMC9933760
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067771

Abstract

Objectives: To chart the global literature on gender equity in academic health research.

Design: Scoping review.

Participants: Quantitative studies were eligible if they examined gender equity within academic institutions including health researchers.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: Outcomes related to equity across gender and other social identities in academia: (1) faculty workforce: representation of all genders in university/faculty departments, academic rank or position and salary; (2) service: teaching obligations and administrative/non-teaching activities; (3) recruitment and hiring data: number of applicants by gender, interviews and new hires for various rank; (4) promotion: opportunities for promotion and time to progress through academic ranks; (5) academic leadership: type of leadership positions, opportunities for leadership promotion or training, opportunities to supervise/mentor and support for leadership bids; (6) scholarly output or productivity: number/type of publications and presentations, position of authorship, number/value of grants or awards and intellectual property ownership; (7) contextual factors of universities; (8) infrastructure; (9) knowledge and technology translation activities; (10) availability of maternity/paternity/parental/family leave; (11) collaboration activities/opportunities for collaboration; (12) qualitative considerations: perceptions around promotion, finances and support.

Results: Literature search yielded 94 798 citations; 4753 full-text articles were screened, and 562 studies were included. Most studies originated from North America (462/562, 82.2%). Few studies (27/562, 4.8%) reported race and fewer reported sex/gender (which were used interchangeably in most studies) other than male/female (11/562, 2.0%). Only one study provided data on religion. No other PROGRESS-PLUS variables were reported. A total of 2996 outcomes were reported, with most studies examining academic output (371/562, 66.0%).

Conclusions: Reviewed literature suggest a lack in analytic approaches that consider genders beyond the binary categories of man and woman, additional social identities (race, religion, social capital and disability) and an intersectionality lens examining the interconnection of multiple social identities in understanding discrimination and disadvantage. All of these are necessary to tailor strategies that promote gender equity.

Trial registration number: Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/8wk7e/.

Keywords: education & training (see medical education & training); general medicine (see internal medicine); health services administration & management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

**Figure 2**
Geographic locations of included studies.

**Figure 3**
Publication status of included studies.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Global evidence of gender equity in academic health research: a scoping review

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Global evidence of gender equity in academic health research: a scoping review

Authors

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Conflict of interest statement

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