Gender equity in academic rheumatology, current status and potential for improvement: a cross-sectional study to inform an EULAR task force
Tadej Avcin,
Laure Gossec,
Iain B McInnes,
Zoltan Szekanecz,
George Bertsias,
Laura C Coates,
Uta Kiltz,
Alexandre Sepriano,
Laura Andreoli,
Georg Schett,
Irene E van der Horst-Bruinsma,
Alessia Alunno,
Elena Nikiphorou,
Nemanja S Damjanov,
Caroline Ospelt,
Pavel V Ovseiko,
Florence Apparailly,
Heidi J Siddle,
Marike van der Leeden,
Katie L Druce,
Anne-Maree Keenan,
Linda H Pololi,
Leonieke van Mens,
Neelam Hassan
Affiliations
Tadej Avcin
7 Department of Allergology, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Children`sHospital, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Laure Gossec
1 INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d`Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
Iain B McInnes
1 MVLS College Office, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Zoltan Szekanecz
12 Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
George Bertsias
3 Rheumatology, University of Crete School of Medicine, Iraklio, Crete, Greece
Laura C Coates
Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Uta Kiltz
Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Ruhr Universität Bochum, Herne, Germany
Alexandre Sepriano
Department of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Laura Andreoli
Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
Georg Schett
22 Department of Internal Medicine 3, Rheumatology and Immunology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Universitatsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
Irene E van der Horst-Bruinsma
28 Department of Rheumatology, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Alessia Alunno
5 Internal Medicine and Nephrology Unit, University of L`Aquila Department of Clinical Medicine Life Health and Environmental Sciences, L`Aquila, Italy
Elena Nikiphorou
19 Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, King`s College London, London, UK
Nemanja S Damjanov
19 Institute of Rheumatology, Belgrade University School of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
Caroline Ospelt
Center of Experimental Rheumatology, Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Pavel V Ovseiko
Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Florence Apparailly
IRMB, INSERM, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Heidi J Siddle
Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Marike van der Leeden
1Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Centre, Reade, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Katie L Druce
1 Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Anne-Maree Keenan
School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Linda H Pololi
2National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine: C-Change, Brandeis University Women`s Studies Research Center, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Leonieke van Mens
Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Neelam Hassan
Department of Rheumatology, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK
Objectives Evidence on the current status of gender equity in academic rheumatology in Europe and potential for its improvement is limited. The EULAR convened a task force to obtain empirical evidence on the potential unmet need for support of female rheumatologists, health professionals and non-clinical scientists in academic rheumatology.Methods This cross-sectional study comprised three web-based surveys conducted in 2020 among: (1) EULAR scientific member society leaders, (2) EULAR and Emerging EULAR Network (EMEUNET) members and (3) EULAR Council members. Statistics were descriptive with significance testing for male/female responses assessed by χ2 test and t-test.Results Data from EULAR scientific member societies in 13 countries indicated that there were disproportionately fewer women in academic rheumatology than in clinical rheumatology, and they tended to be under-represented in senior academic roles. From 324 responses of EULAR and EMEUNET members (24 countries), we detected no gender differences in leadership aspirations, self-efficacy in career advancement and work–life integration as well as the share of time spent on research, but there were gender differences in working hours and the levels of perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment. There were gender differences in the ranking of 7 of 26 factors impacting career advancement and of 8 of 24 potential interventions to aid career advancement.Conclusions There are gender differences in career advancement in academic rheumatology. The study informs a EULAR task force developing a framework of potential interventions to accelerate gender-equitable career advancement in academic rheumatology.
