Gender Disparity in Academic Career Advancement of Radiation Oncologists

Summary: Female career advancement in academic radiation oncology has progressed significantly in the last decade, observed through measures like Red Journal authorship and full-time faculty status. Previous studies analyzing gender matrics in radiation oncology within academic medicine have found less women achieve senior faculty ranks compared to male colleagues. This cross-sectional study aims to analyze gender disparity in academic advancement in radiation oncologists, taking into years of practice, involvement in residency program direction, and additional degrees (e.g. PhD, MBA) across U.S institutions. Accredited, American radiation oncology program websites were searched for radiation oncology faculty, with number of years in practice, gender, academic title, and degree obtained. Analyses, including Chi-square and binary logistic regression, were performed via SPSS statistics. 1003 physicians fit the study criteria (actively practicing, title and years of practice readily apparent). 31.4% were female and 68.6% were male. The average years of practice were 14.8, with a standard deviation of 10.9 years and a range of 1 - 63 years. The majority (94.3%) of physicians were not involved in residency program direction. 1.1% of physicians had attained an MBA, while 21.3% had a PhD, and 75.5% did not have any terminal degrees outside of MD/DO/MBBS. No significant difference between genders was found by institution region (p = 0.063), involvement in program direction(p = 0.228), years of practice (p = 0.873), or attainment of terminal degree outside of medical degree (p = 0.075). A significant difference between gender and rank was found (p = 0.005). Binary logistic regression controlling for years of practice revealed that gender has a significant impact on academic rank, with higher ranks showing increased odds ratios, particularly at the level of assistant professor (p = 0.044, OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.021 - 5.2) and associate professor (p = 0.035, OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.06 - 5.4). Years of practice have a minor, non-significant negative effect. Gender continues to have a significant impact on academic rank within the field of radiation oncology. Our results indicate that female radiation oncologists are more likely to be assistant and associate professors than their male counterparts, who were more likely to have higher roles like departmental directors and chairs. This remains true when years of practice is controlled for in a regression model. Future studies should explore what keeps female radiation oncologists from enjoying similar upward career momentum as male colleagues. Factors such as pregnancy, coordinating childcare, race/ethnicity, career goals, work-life balance, and/or academic pressure could all be contributing factors to this discrepancy. Rimsha J. Afzal, n/a (Presenting Author) - Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine; Farah Naiyer (she/her/hers), 1st year medical student (Co-Author) - Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine; Anisha Polmati, 1st year medical student (Co-Author) - Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine; Rachel Akers (she/her/hers), 3rd year medical student (Co-Author) - Rush University