Where are the women and underrepresented minorities in medicine? Race/ethnicity and gender representation in oncology journals’ editorial boards.

Authors

null

Shruti Rajesh Patel

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Shruti Rajesh Patel , Ivy Riano , Gabriella Geiger , Jacqueline Pimienta , Inas Abuali , Angela Ai , Adriana Ramirez Roggio , Natasha Dhawan , Nazli Dizman , Alexandra Lizette Salinas , Narjust Duma

Organizations

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, MetroWest Medical Center, Framingham, MA, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, Universidad Central del Caribe, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Zapopan, Mexico

Research Funding

No funding received
None

Background: The proportion of women & underrepresented groups in medicine (URM) in the field of hematology and oncology remains low, particularly in academic leadership positions. Editorial board appointments allow physicians to have a substantial impact on the nature of the published scholarly work and serve as a platform for academic opportunities. We aimed to assess gender and race/ethnicity representation in editorial board positions in hematology and oncology journals. Methods: Editorial leadership board members from 60 journals from oncology, hematology, radiation oncology, and surgical oncology were reviewed, 54 journals were included in the analysis. Gender and race/ethnicity were determined based on publicly available data for editor-in-chief (EiC) and second-in-command (SiC) (including deputy, senior, or associate editors). Descriptive statistics and chi-squared were estimated. Results: A total of 793 editorial board members are included in the analysis. 72.6 % were men and 27.4 % were women. 71.3% of editorial leadership were non-Hispanic white with Asian editorial board members representing the second largest majority at 23.3%. The editorial position was significantly different among men and women (p = 0.038) with women filling only 15.9% (10/63) of the EiC positions. Of these 10 women, the racial breakdown was 90% white and 10% Asian. In the prevalence odds ratio (pOR), women were about half as likely to be in the EiC position compared with men [pOR: 0.47, 95%CI (0.23, 0.95, p = 0.03)]. Women represented 28.4% (207/730) of SiC editorial positions. White editors had the highest representation at 71.0% in the SiC editorial positions, followed by Asian editors at 16.0%. Notable differences were seen in gender proportions between journal specialties (p = 0.001); with surgical oncology and hematology having the lowest female representation at 11.9% and 22.7%, respectively. Conclusions: Women and UIM are markedly underrepresented in leadership roles on Editorial Boards in hematology and oncology journals. Importantly, the representation of minority women physicians in EiC positions is at an inexorable zero which is a sign of unconscious attitudes that may exclude women and minorities from certain positions. It is imperative that we work to move towards a more diverse and inclusive editorial board to ensure critical perspectives are heard and scientific discovery is fostered.


Editor's Race/Ethnicity (%)
Editor-In-Chief
Editor-In-Chief
Second-In-Command
Second-In-Command
Female n (%)
Male n (%)
Female n (%)
Male n (%)
White
9 (19.6)
37 (80.4)
155 (29.9)
363 (70.1)
Black
0 (0.0)
2 (100.0)
1 (16.7)
5 (83.3)
East Asian
0 (0.0)
5 (100.0)
34 (29.1)
83 (70.9)
South Asian
1 (10.0)
4 (80.0)
9 (17.6)
42 (82.4)
Middle Eastern & North African
0 (0.0)
3 (100.0)
3 (23.1)
10 (76.9)
Hispanic
0 (0.0)
2 (100.0)
5 (23.8)
16 (76.2)
Unknown
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
4 (100.0)

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2021 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Discussion Session

Session Title

Professional Development and Education Advances

Track

Medical Education and Professional Development

Sub Track

Workplace Disparities/Issues

Citation

J Clin Oncol 39, 2021 (suppl 15; abstr 11007)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.11007

Abstract #

11007

Abstract Disclosures

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