Moving Beyond Gender Disparities: A Call to Action for Gender Parity and Equity
Written by Angela F. Jarman, MD, MPH; Cherri D. Hobgood, MD; and Tracy E. Madsen, MD, PhD
Decades of nearly equal representation of women in undergraduate medical education have failed to yield gender parity (the approximately equal representation of women and men) in Emergency Medicine (EM) clinical representation, rank advancement, or leadership. Currently, women compose only 36% of EM residents and 28% of active EM physicians. Among academic EM (AEM) faculty, women remain increasingly underrepresented at higher ranks and among leadership: as assistant professors (41%), associate professors (31%), full professors (23%), and department chairs (11%). Contributing to this lack of rank advancement are multiple factors including gender disparities in speaking engagements, national awards, authorship, membership on editorial boards, rank, promotion, leadership, and pay. Findings also illustrate an additional niche in which gender disparity persists: podcasting. EM’s progress toward achieving a diverse workforce has stalled. This article gives a powerful “call to action” and highlights ways to improve both gender equity and gender parity in today’s EM workforce.
