Gender Disparity in Academic Career Advancement of Skull Base Surgeons: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Skull base surgery is a subspecialty of otolaryngology that typically involves a 1- to 2-year fellowship. As the field of otolaryngology continues to become more inclusive of women, trends in fellowship, academic rank, and involvement with residency and fellowship program leadership should be analyzed. Previous studies have shown that gender parity provides diverse perspectives, role models, and improved patient outcomes. This cross-sectional study of skull base surgeons in American academic hospitals aims to analyze differences in gender across years in practice, academic rank attained, and involvement in residency/fellowship direction.

Program websites of accredited American otolaryngology residency programs were searched for fellowship-trained skull base surgeons and available data including gender, years since fellowship, academic title, and leadership in residency/fellowship programs were obtained. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were performed via SPSS Statistics.

22.9% of surgeons recorded were female. Years in practice ranged from 1 to 43, with a median of 12 and a mean of 18.5. Binary logistic regression controlling for years of practice revealed significant differences between gender and higher academic title attained (odds ratio 1.062, 95% confidence intervals 1.025 to 1.100, p < 0.001). Descriptive statistics are shown in [Table 1].

Male surgeons were more likely to have been practicing for a longer amount of time than their female counterparts. However, when this variable is controlled for, male surgeons are more likely to have a higher academic title than female counterparts. No significant gender difference in leadership involvement at the residency and fellowship level was found. The gender disparity in skull base surgery observed in this cross-sectional study (22.9% female) is similar to otolaryngology academic faculty regardless of subspeciality (24.5% female). As the number of female trainees in ENT rises, this study provides useful data for trainees who may value female mentorship in a historically male-dominated subspecialty, and raises awareness for gender equality in career advancement within academic skull base surgery.

Table 1 Program involvement and terminal degree by gender

	MaleN (%)	FemaleN (%)
Title
Not listed	15 (6.9)	4 (6.3)
Staff physician	0 (0)	1 (1.6)
Clinical instructor	9 (4.8)	1 (1.6)
Adjunct professor	2 (0.9)	0 (0)
Assistant professor	59 (27.4)	32 (50)
Associate professor	61 (28.4)	17 (26.6)
Professor	54 (25.1)	7 (10.9)
Vice chair	7 (3.6)	1 (1.6)
Chair	8 (3.7)	1 (1.6)
Involved in residency/fellowship program direction
Yes	21 (9.8)	9 (14)
No	194 (90.2)	55 (86)
Terminal degree besides MD/DO
Yes	24 (11.2)	6 (9.4)
No	191 (88.8)	58 (90.6)
Total	215	64

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
07. Februar 2025