User login
Less than one-third of first authors on rheumatology guidelines or recommendations are women, according to a research letter published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Giovanni Adami, MD, from the department of medicine at the University of Verona (Italy), and coauthors examined 366 English-language guidelines and recommendations published between 2004 and 2019 around the world.
They found that only 32% featured a female first author. However, they did observe a significant trend toward increasing female first authorship over the study period, with parity first being achieved for guidelines and recommendations published in 2017.
Male-dominated first authorship was seen almost across the disease subject matter. For RA, only 18.8% of the 96 guidelines or recommendations examined had a female first author, and of the 12 documents on polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis, none featured a female first author.
Among the 73 guidelines and recommendations relating to psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis, only 23.3% featured a female first author. However, three of the six documents on polymyositis and dermatomyositis had a female lead author, the only area where parity was achieved.
The authors noted the recent establishment of the EULAR Task Force on Gender Equity in Academic Rheumatology, which they said was an important first step toward gender equity in rheumatology guidelines authorship.
“Indeed, in the last 15 years we have witnessed an increase in female representativeness,” they wrote. “Notwithstanding, efforts should be made to improve the representation of female authors nationally and internationally.”
Commenting on the findings, rheumatologist Jean Liew, MD, said an interesting thing is that, in the United States at least, rheumatology is not a male-dominated field.
“Even though the practicing clinicians in rheumatology, most of them are women ... at the top of things it’s not as equitable as what it should be,” said Dr. Liew, acting instructor and senior fellow in the division of rheumatology at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Dr. Liew, who coauthored another study showing a significant gender gap in speakers at American College of Rheumatology meetings, said there was evidence suggesting men were more likely to be promoted, get grants, and get positive reviews, which made it harder for women to advance to senior research and leadership positions.
She noted that the ACR has been making a concerted effort to improve gender balance in the choice of speakers for meetings, but said that the problem of gender inequity in rheumatology required more widespread initiatives to address.
“It really takes people being aware of the problem and being good sponsors and promoting women who are qualified,” she said in an interview. “There should be more mentorship and sponsorship for women, otherwise this will never change.”
She also commented that pursuing research careers in rheumatology was difficult enough without the additional pressures of family life. “It’s years and years of sacrifice, it’s hard to get funding, which already makes it harder, especially for women with families who feel like they have to also be there at home.”
The study had no outside funding, and the authors declared no competing interests.
SOURCE: Adami G et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Feb 26. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217119.
Less than one-third of first authors on rheumatology guidelines or recommendations are women, according to a research letter published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Giovanni Adami, MD, from the department of medicine at the University of Verona (Italy), and coauthors examined 366 English-language guidelines and recommendations published between 2004 and 2019 around the world.
They found that only 32% featured a female first author. However, they did observe a significant trend toward increasing female first authorship over the study period, with parity first being achieved for guidelines and recommendations published in 2017.
Male-dominated first authorship was seen almost across the disease subject matter. For RA, only 18.8% of the 96 guidelines or recommendations examined had a female first author, and of the 12 documents on polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis, none featured a female first author.
Among the 73 guidelines and recommendations relating to psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis, only 23.3% featured a female first author. However, three of the six documents on polymyositis and dermatomyositis had a female lead author, the only area where parity was achieved.
The authors noted the recent establishment of the EULAR Task Force on Gender Equity in Academic Rheumatology, which they said was an important first step toward gender equity in rheumatology guidelines authorship.
“Indeed, in the last 15 years we have witnessed an increase in female representativeness,” they wrote. “Notwithstanding, efforts should be made to improve the representation of female authors nationally and internationally.”
Commenting on the findings, rheumatologist Jean Liew, MD, said an interesting thing is that, in the United States at least, rheumatology is not a male-dominated field.
“Even though the practicing clinicians in rheumatology, most of them are women ... at the top of things it’s not as equitable as what it should be,” said Dr. Liew, acting instructor and senior fellow in the division of rheumatology at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Dr. Liew, who coauthored another study showing a significant gender gap in speakers at American College of Rheumatology meetings, said there was evidence suggesting men were more likely to be promoted, get grants, and get positive reviews, which made it harder for women to advance to senior research and leadership positions.
She noted that the ACR has been making a concerted effort to improve gender balance in the choice of speakers for meetings, but said that the problem of gender inequity in rheumatology required more widespread initiatives to address.
“It really takes people being aware of the problem and being good sponsors and promoting women who are qualified,” she said in an interview. “There should be more mentorship and sponsorship for women, otherwise this will never change.”
She also commented that pursuing research careers in rheumatology was difficult enough without the additional pressures of family life. “It’s years and years of sacrifice, it’s hard to get funding, which already makes it harder, especially for women with families who feel like they have to also be there at home.”
The study had no outside funding, and the authors declared no competing interests.
SOURCE: Adami G et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Feb 26. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217119.
Less than one-third of first authors on rheumatology guidelines or recommendations are women, according to a research letter published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Giovanni Adami, MD, from the department of medicine at the University of Verona (Italy), and coauthors examined 366 English-language guidelines and recommendations published between 2004 and 2019 around the world.
They found that only 32% featured a female first author. However, they did observe a significant trend toward increasing female first authorship over the study period, with parity first being achieved for guidelines and recommendations published in 2017.
Male-dominated first authorship was seen almost across the disease subject matter. For RA, only 18.8% of the 96 guidelines or recommendations examined had a female first author, and of the 12 documents on polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis, none featured a female first author.
Among the 73 guidelines and recommendations relating to psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis, only 23.3% featured a female first author. However, three of the six documents on polymyositis and dermatomyositis had a female lead author, the only area where parity was achieved.
The authors noted the recent establishment of the EULAR Task Force on Gender Equity in Academic Rheumatology, which they said was an important first step toward gender equity in rheumatology guidelines authorship.
“Indeed, in the last 15 years we have witnessed an increase in female representativeness,” they wrote. “Notwithstanding, efforts should be made to improve the representation of female authors nationally and internationally.”
Commenting on the findings, rheumatologist Jean Liew, MD, said an interesting thing is that, in the United States at least, rheumatology is not a male-dominated field.
“Even though the practicing clinicians in rheumatology, most of them are women ... at the top of things it’s not as equitable as what it should be,” said Dr. Liew, acting instructor and senior fellow in the division of rheumatology at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Dr. Liew, who coauthored another study showing a significant gender gap in speakers at American College of Rheumatology meetings, said there was evidence suggesting men were more likely to be promoted, get grants, and get positive reviews, which made it harder for women to advance to senior research and leadership positions.
She noted that the ACR has been making a concerted effort to improve gender balance in the choice of speakers for meetings, but said that the problem of gender inequity in rheumatology required more widespread initiatives to address.
“It really takes people being aware of the problem and being good sponsors and promoting women who are qualified,” she said in an interview. “There should be more mentorship and sponsorship for women, otherwise this will never change.”
She also commented that pursuing research careers in rheumatology was difficult enough without the additional pressures of family life. “It’s years and years of sacrifice, it’s hard to get funding, which already makes it harder, especially for women with families who feel like they have to also be there at home.”
The study had no outside funding, and the authors declared no competing interests.
SOURCE: Adami G et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Feb 26. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217119.
FROM ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES