ABSTRACT
Gender equity is far from being achieved in most academic institutions worldwide. Women representation in scientific leadership faces multiple obstacles. Implicit bias and stereotype threat are considered important driving forces concerning gender disparities. Negative cultural stereotypes of weak scientific performance, unrelated to true capacity, are implicitly associated with women and other social groups, influencing, without awareness, attitudes and judgments towards them. Meetings of scientific societies are the forum in which members from all stages of scientific careers are brought together. Visibility in the scientific community stems partly from presenting research as a speaker. Here, we investigated gender disparities in the Brazilian Society of Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC). Across the 15 mandates (1978-2020), women occupied 30% of the directory board posts, and only twice was a woman president. We evaluated six meetings held between 2010 and 2019. During this period, the membership of women outnumbered that of men in all categories. A total of 57.50% of faculty members, representing the potential pool of speakers and chairs, were female. Compared to this expected value, female speakers across the six meetings were scarce in full conferences (χ2(5)=173.54, P<0.001) and low in symposia (χ2(5)=36.92, P<0.001). Additionally, women chaired fewer symposia (χ2(5)=47.83, P<0.001). Furthermore, men-chaired symposia had significantly fewer women speakers than women-chaired symposia (χ2(1)=56.44, P<0.001). The gender disparities observed here are similar to those in other scientific societies worldwide, urging them to lead actions to pursue gender balance and diversity. Diversity leads not only to fairness but also to higher-quality science.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Gender Equity , BrazilABSTRACT
Forty Years AgoAugust,1969 in the prime of the nation-wide university strife, the Japan Society for Medical Education was founded within the Association of Japanese Medical Colleges in order to improve medical education through a long-ranged research-based activity and became an independent organization later.Achievements AfterwardOnly 62 members at the beginning have increased year after year to 2,000 and 230 organization members, including all 80 medical schools, in response to the societal summons. The Society's activities have ranged widely from the undergraduate medical education, begun at the student selection, the graduate education to the continuing education of the health professionals with and through evidence-based research.Some of the real activities during the past forty years have been as follows: (1)Various committees and working groups have worked continuously toward momentarily crucial issues facing medical education, (2)The scientific meetings have been held annually at the medical schools or teaching hospitals for forty years as well as conferences and workshops occasionally, (3)The official journal "Medical Education (Japan)" has been published bimonthly and the educational books as well, (4)Promotion and cooperation of "faculty development" have been one of the most important tasks, (5)Assistance to build the medical education centers in medical schools and hospitals and (6)many others.Future ProspectivesThe Japan Society for Medical Education will continue every activity for the people's health and welfare as an organization of "noblesse oblige".