Gender Bias in Child Neurology: Women Underrepresented in Leadership Roles, Awards

Despite an increase in the percentage of women in child neurology, they remain underrepresented in leadership roles and recognition awards in the Child Neurology Society (CNS). These are the findings of a review published in the journal Neurology.

Previous studies and real-world settings have shown the existence of gender bias and disparities in neurology, with the field having one of the most significant gender pay gaps among medical specialties. Currently, although women comprise a high percentage of child neurology trainees, recognition for women is not reflected in CNS leadership roles and awards.

Researchers conducted a retrospective review to examine the differences in gender representation in leadership and awards in child neurology to improve equity and inclusion in organizations.

Primary outcome measures were number of recognition awards or board of director (BOD) positions given to women and men every year. The CNS leadership positions include 3 types of BOD positions and recognition includes 8 major faculty-level awards, both of which may be peer or self-nominated.

Data on awardees and those in leadership positions were collected from the CNS from 1972 to 2023.

A total of 152 BOD positions and 236 recognition awards were reviewed. Women represented 29% of the BOD positions and 26% of the awardees. The researchers observed that the same women were recognized multiple times. In leadership roles, 13% of presidents, 36% of secretary-treasurers, and 33% of councilors were women.

In addition, the researchers noted a downward trend in the difference of BOD positions between men and women over the last 4 to 6 years; however, the disparity gap reduced in the past decade.

From 2003 to 2023, the percentage of women with nonpresidential vs presidential positions increased. In 2019, the CNS president directed the nominating committee to consider gender equity and diversity in leadership positions, but the overall gap in gender representation was mostly found to remain unchanged.

The researchers also compared gender representation of women presidents in CNS with other medical societies, including the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They noted a reduced gap between men and women in presidential leadership for all 3 societies; however, the gender difference of this leadership position in AAN and AAP remained unchanged since 2019.

In the CNS, women comprised 26% of the awardees. After performing statistical analysis, women represented 23% of the awardees and were underrepresented overall (P <.00001).

Limitations of the analysis included the incomplete representation of gender (those who identified as men or women); lack of full access to data on identification of gender, race, ethnicity, and other information on gender distribution; and the lack of generalizability, as data were collected from a single society (CNS).

“As the society for child neurologists, CNS can create equitable policies and practices, set the standard for equitable representation, and advocate for others to do the same, moving toward a more inclusive field of child neurology,” the researchers concluded,