Women Representation in Anesthesiology Society Leadership Positions.

BACKGROUND: Although the number of women in medicine has increased, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions, specifically in medical societies. Specialty societies in medicine are influential in networking, career advancement, research and education opportunities, and providing awards and recognition. The goals of this study are to examine the representation of women in leadership positions in anesthesiology societies compared to women society members and women anesthesiologists and to analyze the trend in women society presidents over time. METHODS: A list of anesthesiology societies was obtained from the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) website. Society leadership positions were obtained via the societies' websites. Gender was determined by images on the society website and images or pronouns on hospital websites and research databases. The percentage of women presidents, vice presidents/presidents-elect, secretaries/treasurers, board of directors/council members, and committee chairs was calculated. The percentage of women in society leadership positions was compared to the percentage of women society members when available, and the percentage of women anesthesiologists in the workforce (26%) using binomial difference of unpaired proportions tests. The trend of women presidents from 1980 to 2020 was analyzed using a Cochran-Armitage trend test. RESULTS: A total of 13 societies were included in this study. Overall, women held 32.6% (189/580) of leadership positions. 38.5% (5/13) of presidents, 17.6% (3/17) of presidents-elect/vice presidents, and 45% (9/20) of secretaries/treasurers were women. In addition, 30.0% (91/303) of board of directors/council members and 34.2% (90/263) of committee chairs were women. The percentage of women holding society leadership positions was significantly greater than the percentage of women anesthesiologists in the workforce ( P < .001), as was the percentage of women as committee chairs ( P = .003). The percentage of women society members was available for 9 of 13 societies (69%), and the percentage of women leaders was similar to the percentage of women society members ( P = .10). There was a significant difference in the percentage of women leaders between society size categories. Small societies had 32.9% (49/149) women leaders, medium had 39.4% (74/188) women leaders, and the single large society had 27.2% (66/243) ( P = .03). There were also significantly more women leaders in the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) than there are women members ( P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that anesthesia societies may be more inclusive of women in leadership positions compared to other specialty societies. Although in anesthesiology, women remain underrepresented in academic leadership roles, there is a higher proportion of women in leadership roles in anesthesiology societies than proportion of women in the anesthesia workforce.

Parental Leave Policies in the Top 20 US Hospitals: A Call for Inclusivity and Improvement.

Objective: To evaluate and compare parental leave policies from the top United States (US) hospitals with a focus on inclusivity of all types of parents. Methods: In September and October of 2021, the parental leave policies of the top 20 US hospitals, ranked by the 2021 US News & World report, were evaluated. Parental leave policies were obtained and reviewed through the hospitals' public websites. Hospitals' Human Relations (HR) departments were contacted to confirm the policies. Hospital policies were scored against a rubric created by the authors. Results: Among the top US hospitals (21 total hospitals), 17 (81%) had publicly available policies, and one policy was obtained by contacting HR. Fourteen of the 18 hospitals (77.8%) had a parental leave policy distinctive from short-term disability and offered paid paternity or partner leave. Thirteen hospitals (72.2%) offered parental leave for parents whose children were carried through surrogacy. Fourteen hospitals (77.8%) included adoptive parents; however, only five hospitals (27.8%) specifically included foster parents. The average paid leave for birthing mothers was 7.9 weeks compared to 6.6 weeks for nonbirthing parents. Only three hospitals offered the same leave for birthing and nonbirthing parents. Conclusion: While a few of the top 20 hospitals have paid parental leave policies that are inclusive and equivalent to all parents, many do not and represent an area for improvement. As healthcare industry leaders, these hospitals should strive for inclusive parental leave policies that care for their employees with the same high standards they set for caring for patients.