Gender Imbalance in Authorship in Gynecologic Oncology

In this episode of the IJGC podcast, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Pedro Ramirez is joined by Sarah Mah to discuss the gender imbalance in authorship in gynecologic oncology. Sarah Mah is a Gynecologic Oncology fellow at McMaster University who received her MSc in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety through the University of Toronto Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and completed residency at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests are in quality improvement with an equity and sustainability lens, knowledge translation, and cancer prevention. Highlights: Women now account for 55-70% of practicing Gynecologic Oncologists and >80% of Gynecologic Oncology fellows in the United States and Canada. Rates of female first authorship in Gynecologic Oncology journals are rising in proportion, but rates of female senior authorship lag behind, with male authors still overrepresented. Women remain underrepresented as members of Editorial Boards of Gynecologic Oncology journals, particularly in leadership positions. While the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet impacted the proportion of female authors, we discuss reasons for why this could be of future concern and the importance of ongoing surveillance.

We discuss some of the literature regarding gender inequity in academia and publishing and explore possible strategies for improvement.