TY - JOUR
T1 - Race, Gender, and International Medical Graduates
T2 - Leadership Trends in Academic Surgical Societies
AU - Morris-Wiseman, Lilah F.
AU - Cañez, Christina
AU - Romero Arenas, Minerva A.
AU - Hsu, Chiu Hsieh
AU - Nfonsam, Valentine N.
N1 - Funding Information: Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities are prominent in general surgery residency and increase with advancement in academic surgical faculty rank and leadership. Blacks make up 12.5% of the U.S. population but only 4.2% of surgical faculty. Hispanics make up 18.3% of the U.S. population and 3.4% of surgical faculty. 1 , 2 While the “leaky pipeline” metaphor describes the low numbers of Black and Hispanic medical students relative to the population, it also has been used to describe the continual decline in representation between medical school graduation and academic surgical leadership. 3 Compared to White surgical faculty, Black faculty are significantly less likely to be promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor or stay in academic positions. 10-year promotion rates for Assistant Professors of surgery were highest for White faculty (34%) and lowest for Black faculty (19%) (P<0.01). 4 Black men are 2.1% of Assistant, 2.3% of Associate, and 1.8% of full Professors while Black women are 1.1% of Assistant, 0.57% of Associate, and 0.26% of full Professors of surgery. 5 Hispanic men are 2.5% of Assistant, 1.7% of Associate, and 1.6% of full Professors while Hispanic women are 0.62% of Assistant, 0.36% of Associate, and 0.13% of full Professors. As of 2017, there were six Latinx/Hispanic and 10 African American Chairs of surgery (1.6% and 2.7% of total Chairs, respectively), all men. 5 Since that study, 3 Latina and 2 Black female surgeons have been named Chairs of academic departments of surgery. Female surgeons are also less likely to receive National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding than their White male colleagues. 5 , 6 Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Background: Non-White and female surgeons are underrepresented in academic surgery faculty. We hypothesized that the leadership of major U.S. regional and national general surgery societies reflects these same racial and gender disparities. We suspected that attending a medical school or residency program with academic prestige would be more common for surgeons from underrepresented backgrounds. Materials and Methods: Race/ethnicity and gender of the 2020-21 executive council members and 2012-21 society presidents of 25 major general surgery societies (7 regional, 18 national) was assessed. Academic prestige was determined by reputational top 25 programs, identified using U.S. News and World Report and Doximity rankings for medical school and residency, respectively. Results: Surgical society executive council members (n = 204) were predominantly White (75.5%) and male (67.2%). The 50 non-White council members were Asian (n = 37), Black (n = 7), and Latinx (n = 6). 14 (6.9%) were international medical graduates (IMGs). 56.4% attended a school or program ranked in the Top 25 (n = 115). Surgical society presidents 2012-21 (n = 242) have been mostly White (87.6%) and male (83.4%). Non-White, male surgical society presidents were Asian (n = 13), Black (n = 9), and Latino (n = 6). Of the 41 female surgery society presidents, 92.7% were White, 7.3% (n = 3) Asian, and none Black or Latina. 13 were IMGs (5.3%). 55.0% of society presidents attended Top 25 (n = 133) schools or programs. The three non-White, female presidents all attended Top 25 schools/programs (100%). Of the 15 unique individuals who were male, non-White presidents, 12 attended top 25 schools or programs (80%). Conclusion: Women, non-White surgeons, and IMGs are underrepresented in U.S. surgical society leadership. Increasing racial diversity in U.S. surgical society leadership may require intentionality in mentorship and sponsorship, particularly for surgeons who did not attend prestigious schools or programs.
AB - Background: Non-White and female surgeons are underrepresented in academic surgery faculty. We hypothesized that the leadership of major U.S. regional and national general surgery societies reflects these same racial and gender disparities. We suspected that attending a medical school or residency program with academic prestige would be more common for surgeons from underrepresented backgrounds. Materials and Methods: Race/ethnicity and gender of the 2020-21 executive council members and 2012-21 society presidents of 25 major general surgery societies (7 regional, 18 national) was assessed. Academic prestige was determined by reputational top 25 programs, identified using U.S. News and World Report and Doximity rankings for medical school and residency, respectively. Results: Surgical society executive council members (n = 204) were predominantly White (75.5%) and male (67.2%). The 50 non-White council members were Asian (n = 37), Black (n = 7), and Latinx (n = 6). 14 (6.9%) were international medical graduates (IMGs). 56.4% attended a school or program ranked in the Top 25 (n = 115). Surgical society presidents 2012-21 (n = 242) have been mostly White (87.6%) and male (83.4%). Non-White, male surgical society presidents were Asian (n = 13), Black (n = 9), and Latino (n = 6). Of the 41 female surgery society presidents, 92.7% were White, 7.3% (n = 3) Asian, and none Black or Latina. 13 were IMGs (5.3%). 55.0% of society presidents attended Top 25 (n = 133) schools or programs. The three non-White, female presidents all attended Top 25 schools/programs (100%). Of the 15 unique individuals who were male, non-White presidents, 12 attended top 25 schools or programs (80%). Conclusion: Women, non-White surgeons, and IMGs are underrepresented in U.S. surgical society leadership. Increasing racial diversity in U.S. surgical society leadership may require intentionality in mentorship and sponsorship, particularly for surgeons who did not attend prestigious schools or programs.
KW - Academic bias
KW - International medical graduate
KW - Surgery society leadership
KW - Underrepresented in surgery
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jss.2021.09.043
DO - 10.1016/j.jss.2021.09.043
M3 - Article
C2 - 34798425
SN - 0022-4804
VL - 270
SP - 430
EP - 436
JO - Journal of Surgical Research
JF - Journal of Surgical Research
ER -