The gender gap in academic anesthesiology and critical care medicine: a systematic review

Purpose: Gender disparities in academia are a growing concern, impacting various disciplines, including health care. We aimed to investigate gender-based differences in academic performance, leadership roles, and academic distinction within anesthesiology and critical care medicine. Source: We conducted electronic searches for relevant articles published in PubMed, CENTRAL, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Education Resources Information Center, PsychINFO, and ProQuest from database inception until 23 June 2024. Three researchers conducted blinded assessments using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, with discrepancies resolved through discussion. We reported descriptive statistics for quantitative data from the included research articles. Principal findings: Our initial screening identified 37,311 studies, 71 of which met the specified inclusion criteria and were therefore evaluated. Analysis of academic publishing trends revealed a gradual increase in the proportion of women as coauthors, first authors (in anesthesiology, the increase ranged from 7% to 17%, and in critical care medicine the increase was 4%), last authors, and corresponding authors. Despite these improvements, women remain underrepresented on the editorial boards of top journals. Although an increase in the representation of women as abstract presenters at conferences was noted, gender disparities persist in senior authorship roles. Conclusion: Gender disparities are evident in academic leadership positions within anesthesiology and critical care medicine, with few women holding editor-in-chief positions and underrepresentation of women on editorial boards. We observed similar gaps in departmental and scientific society leadership roles. The distribution of awards, prizes, and grants remains skewed, indicating persistent gender imbalances in academic distinction. While progress has been made in certain areas, substantial gaps persist in scholarly publishing, leadership, and academic distinction. Study registration: PROSPERO ( CRD42022377524 ); first submitted 20 November 2022.