• Phyllis L Carr, Anita Raj, Samantha E Kaplan, Norma Terrin, Janis L Breeze, and Karen M Freund.
• P.L. Carr is associate physician, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and associate professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. A. Raj is professor and director, Center on Gender Equity and Health, Division of Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California. S.E. Kaplan is assistant professor and assistant dean for diversity, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. N. Terrin is professor and director, Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design, Tufts Clinical Translational Science Institute and Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. J.L. Breeze is assistant professor and epidemiologist, Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design, Tufts Clinical Translational Science Institute and Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. K.M. Freund is professor and vice chair of medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Acad Med. 2018 Nov 1; 93 (11): 1694-1699.

PurposePrior studies have found that women in academic medicine do not advance or remain in their careers in parity with men. The authors examined a cohort of faculty from the 1995 National Faculty Survey to identify predictors of advancement, retention, and leadership for women faculty.MethodThe authors followed 1,273 faculty at 24 medical schools in the continental United States for 17 years to identify predictors of advancement, retention, and leadership for women faculty. Schools were balanced for public or private status and the four Association of American Medical Colleges geographic regions. The authors used regression models to adjust for covariates: seniority, department, academic setting, and race/ethnicity.ResultsAfter adjusting for significant covariates, women were less likely than men to achieve the rank of professor (OR = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.43-0.78) or to remain in academic careers (OR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.49-0.94). When number of refereed publications was added to the model, differences by gender in retention and attainment of senior rank were no longer significant. Male faculty were more likely to hold senior leadership positions after adjusting for publications (OR = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.35-0.69).ConclusionsGender disparities in rank, retention, and leadership remain across the career trajectories of the faculty cohort in this study. Women were less likely to attain senior-level positions than men, even after adjusting for publication-related productivity. Institutions must examine the climate for women to ensure their academic capital is fully utilized and equal opportunity exists for leadership.

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