Resident and Program Director Gender Distribution by Specialty

Background: Although enrollment of women in U. S. medical schools has increased, women remain less likely to achieve senior academic rank, lead academic departments, or be appointed to national leadership positions. The purpose of this paper is to compare the gender distribution of residency program directors (PDs) with residents and faculty in the 10 largest specialties. Methods: The gender distribution of residents training in the 10 specialties with the largest enrollment was obtained from the annual education issue of Journal of the American Medical Association. The gender distribution of the residents was compared with the gender distribution of PDs and medical school faculty. The number of programs and the names of the PDs were identified by accessing the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education web site. Gender was confirmed through electronic search of state medical board data, program web sites, or by using internet search engines. The gender distribution of medical school faculty was determined using the Association of American Medical Colleges faculty roster database (accessed June 15, 2011). The correlation between female residents and PDs was assessed using Pearson's product-moment correlation. The gender distribution of female PDs appointed June 1, 2006, through June 1, 2010, was compared with the distribution appointed before June 1, 2006, using chi square analysis. Results: Specialties with higher percentages of female PDs had a higher percentage of female residents enrolled (r = 0.81, p = 0.005). The number of female PDs appointed from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2010, was greater than the number appointed before July 1, 2006, in emergency medicine (p < 0.001), family medicine (p = 0.02), and for all PDs (p = 0.005). Female PDs were fewer than expected based on the gender distribution of medical school faculty in 7 of the 10 specialties. Conclusions: Women remain underrepresented in PD appointments relative to the proportion of female medical school faculty and female residents. Mechanisms to address gender-based barriers to advancement should be considered.