TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender imbalance in authorship of veterinary literature
T2 - 1995 versus 2015
AU - Giuffrida, Michelle A.
AU - Burton, Jenna H.
AU - Dechant, Julie E.
AU - Winter, Alexandra
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Despite increasing representation of women in veterinary medicine, gender differences persist in pay and attainment of senior and leadership positions. In academia, scholarly publication is a measure of productivity and is emphasized in the promotion process. This study aimed to analyze gender differences in the authorship of veterinary research articles to understand factors that could influence women's advancement and standing in academic medicine. We hypothesized that the proportion of women authors would increase between 1995 and 2015 and be similar to employment rates of women in academia, and that gender differences would exist in authorship by species, veterinary specialty area, and role (junior versus senior author). We examined 2,086 articles published in eight prominent veterinary journals in 1995 and 2015, determined the gender of first authors, corresponding authors, and senior authors, and collected article information including study design, species, and veterinary specialty area. The proportion of women as first and corresponding author increased significantly between 1995 and 2015, and in both years studied, women authored a larger percentage of articles than the reported percentage of women working in academia. In 2015, women were first authors of 60.0% (95% CI 56.9-63.0) of articles but accounted for only 38.3% of senior authors (95% CI 33.4-43.3). Female first authors were concentrated in articles pertaining to small animal, equine, and internal medicine disciplines and under-represented among articles pertaining to livestock or surgical specialties. The gender gap in the authorship of veterinary clinical research articles has improved dramatically over the past 20 years, although gender disparities persist.
AB - Despite increasing representation of women in veterinary medicine, gender differences persist in pay and attainment of senior and leadership positions. In academia, scholarly publication is a measure of productivity and is emphasized in the promotion process. This study aimed to analyze gender differences in the authorship of veterinary research articles to understand factors that could influence women's advancement and standing in academic medicine. We hypothesized that the proportion of women authors would increase between 1995 and 2015 and be similar to employment rates of women in academia, and that gender differences would exist in authorship by species, veterinary specialty area, and role (junior versus senior author). We examined 2,086 articles published in eight prominent veterinary journals in 1995 and 2015, determined the gender of first authors, corresponding authors, and senior authors, and collected article information including study design, species, and veterinary specialty area. The proportion of women as first and corresponding author increased significantly between 1995 and 2015, and in both years studied, women authored a larger percentage of articles than the reported percentage of women working in academia. In 2015, women were first authors of 60.0% (95% CI 56.9-63.0) of articles but accounted for only 38.3% of senior authors (95% CI 33.4-43.3). Female first authors were concentrated in articles pertaining to small animal, equine, and internal medicine disciplines and under-represented among articles pertaining to livestock or surgical specialties. The gender gap in the authorship of veterinary clinical research articles has improved dramatically over the past 20 years, although gender disparities persist.
KW - Academic affairs
KW - Advising
KW - Authorship
KW - Diversity
KW - Leadership
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075426133&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85075426133&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3138/jvme.1017-141r
DO - 10.3138/jvme.1017-141r
M3 - Review article
C2 - 30806558
AN - SCOPUS:85075426133
VL - 46
SP - 429
EP - 437
JO - Journal of Veterinary Medical Education
JF - Journal of Veterinary Medical Education
SN - 0748-321X
IS - 12
ER -