Sex differences persist in academic rank for neurologists

(HealthDay)—Sex differences persist in academic rank among neurologists, with men more likely to be full professors, according to a study published online April 2 in JAMA Neurology.

Mollie McDermott, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues examined potential sex differences in top-ranked academic neurology programs. The number of men and women at each academic faculty rank and how many articles each group had published were compared for 29 top-ranked neurology programs. The sample included 1,712 academic neurologists: 30.8 and 69.2 percent were women and men, respectively.

The researchers found that men outnumbered women at all academic faculty ranks; the difference increased with advancing rank. Men were twice as likely as women to be full professors after controlling for clustering and years since medical school graduation (odds ratio, 2.06; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.40 to 3.01); the odds of being associate professors were the same for men and women (odds ratio, 1.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.32). At all academic ranks, men had more publications than women; the disparity decreased with advancing rank. After adjustment for years since medical school graduation, there was no significant correlation between sex and clinical activity, educational leadership, or book authorship.

"Men outnumber women at all faculty ranks in top-ranked academic neurology programs, and the discrepancy increases with advancing rank," the authors write. "Men have more publications than women at all ranks, but the gap narrows with advancing rank."