Women Physicians Are Underrepresented in Recognition Awards From the Association of Academic Physiatrists.
Julie K Silver, Cheri A Blauwet, Saurabha Bhatnagar and 8 others
PMID 28678034WHAT IT FOUND
Women physicians received 17 of 85 recognition awards from the Association of Academic Physiatrists over 27 years, and no awards to women in any category from 2013 to 2016, despite increased female representation in the specialty.
Key findings
01Women physicians received 17 of 85 AAP recognition awards over 27 years, and the proportion of women recipients was lower in the past 10 years than in the first 17 years.
02No awards were given to women physicians in any of the six award categories between 2013 and 2016.
03Women received 20.0% of awards over 27 years, while the reported proportion of women practicing physiatrists ranged from 33.1% to 34.6% from 2011 to 2016.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study focused only on gender representation in recognition awards, not on other forms of diversity or inclusion. It did not have direct AAP membership gender data, so comparisons used other PM&R workforce and academic faculty sources that may not match the award pool. It did not assess why women were underrepresented, such as nomination practices, award criteria, implicit bias, publications, grants, service time, employment setting, or access to resources. Gender was assigned from online profiles and pronouns, so misclassification is possible. The award list had inconsistencies, and even a verified list could contain errors in names or dates.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest, and no individuals in control of the content reported conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the low number of women award recipients as proof that women physicians are less qualified or less productive. The study counted awards only and did not assess award criteria, nominations, publications, grants, or the reasons for the disparity.