Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Women are historically underrepresented as grand rounds speakers in US medical schools regardless of department. We hypothesized that the representation of women as grand rounds speakers would increase after the widespread adoption of virtual grand rounds during the COVID-19 pandemic....

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Main Authors: Abigail Dereje, Rahel Ghebre, Shanaz Sultan, Ben Langworthy, Michelle N. Rheault
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2025-01-01
Series:Women's Health Reports
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Online Access:https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/whr.2024.0174
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author Abigail Dereje
Rahel Ghebre
Shanaz Sultan
Ben Langworthy
Michelle N. Rheault
author_facet Abigail Dereje
Rahel Ghebre
Shanaz Sultan
Ben Langworthy
Michelle N. Rheault
author_sort Abigail Dereje
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Women are historically underrepresented as grand rounds speakers in US medical schools regardless of department. We hypothesized that the representation of women as grand rounds speakers would increase after the widespread adoption of virtual grand rounds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We reviewed publicly available or individually provided grand round speaker lists for 2019, 2021, and 2022 from representative medical departments, surgical departments, and basic science departments of our local institution and the top 10 academic medical schools based on their national ranking according to the 2022 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research Rankings of NIH Funding. Speaker gender was determined based on name and publicly available biographies. Results: In total, we identified 1995 speaking engagements from 10 institutions. All but six talks delivered post-COVID-19 pandemic were in hybrid or virtual-only format compared to exclusively in-person sessions pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, women accounted for 37.3% of invited speakers compared to 45.5% post-COVID. This increase in the representation of women as grand rounds speakers was consistent across all academic ranks and most departments. Conclusions: We propose that departments, particularly those with fewer women at baseline, should continue to offer at least some virtual grand rounds opportunities throughout the year with a goal of increasing the diversity of speakers and improving the access of their faculty to women speakers.
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spelling doaj-art-34440cdaeaf445589307f2e930732a122025-08-20T03:49:44ZengMary Ann LiebertWomen's Health Reports2688-48442025-01-016135335910.1089/whr.2024.0174Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 PandemicAbigail Dereje0Rahel Ghebre1Shanaz Sultan2Ben Langworthy3Michelle N. Rheault4Center for Women in Medicine and Science, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Center for Women in Medicine and Science, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Center for Women in Medicine and Science, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Center for Women in Medicine and Science, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Introduction: Women are historically underrepresented as grand rounds speakers in US medical schools regardless of department. We hypothesized that the representation of women as grand rounds speakers would increase after the widespread adoption of virtual grand rounds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We reviewed publicly available or individually provided grand round speaker lists for 2019, 2021, and 2022 from representative medical departments, surgical departments, and basic science departments of our local institution and the top 10 academic medical schools based on their national ranking according to the 2022 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research Rankings of NIH Funding. Speaker gender was determined based on name and publicly available biographies. Results: In total, we identified 1995 speaking engagements from 10 institutions. All but six talks delivered post-COVID-19 pandemic were in hybrid or virtual-only format compared to exclusively in-person sessions pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, women accounted for 37.3% of invited speakers compared to 45.5% post-COVID. This increase in the representation of women as grand rounds speakers was consistent across all academic ranks and most departments. Conclusions: We propose that departments, particularly those with fewer women at baseline, should continue to offer at least some virtual grand rounds opportunities throughout the year with a goal of increasing the diversity of speakers and improving the access of their faculty to women speakers.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/whr.2024.0174academic medicinewomen in medicinegender equityacademic promotion
spellingShingle Abigail Dereje
Rahel Ghebre
Shanaz Sultan
Ben Langworthy
Michelle N. Rheault
Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Women's Health Reports
academic medicine
women in medicine
gender equity
academic promotion
title Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Changes in Gender Representation in Academic Grand Rounds Speakers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort changes in gender representation in academic grand rounds speakers during the covid 19 pandemic
topic academic medicine
women in medicine
gender equity
academic promotion
url https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/whr.2024.0174
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AT shanazsultan changesingenderrepresentationinacademicgrandroundsspeakersduringthecovid19pandemic
AT benlangworthy changesingenderrepresentationinacademicgrandroundsspeakersduringthecovid19pandemic
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