B - The gender imbalance in academic medicine: a study of female authorship in the United Kingdom

Sidhu R, Rajashekhar P, Lavin VL, Parry J, Attwood J, Holdcroft A, Sanders DS.
The gender imbalance in academic medicine: a study of female authorship in the United Kingdom J R Soc Med. 2009,102(8):337-42

Career progression depends on measures of esteem, including publication publication in prestigious journals.A shortfall exists of female doctors in senior academic posts in the United Kingdom. This study investigates gender differences in first and senior authorship in six peer-reviewed British journals (including BMJ and Lancet) in the years for 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2004 and analyses factors that are associated with publication rates. There is an general increase in UK female first authors since 1970. In contrast, there is considerable lag and in some specialties a decline in female senior authors. Factors that could narrow the gender gap in authorship should be sought and addressed.

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