While submissions to one of radiology’s top journals surged during the pandemic, female-led manuscripts experienced a decline, according to recently published data.
Comparing April through October 2019 to that same time period in 2020, overall article submissions to JACR ballooned by nearly 43%, propelled by COVID-related research. Those submitted with female first and corresponding authors, however, saw a year-over-year drop of 13% and 11%, respectively.
These findings align with growing evidence suggesting women make up a lower share of COVID-related articles across medicine and other academic fields, Monique A. Mogensen, MD, a radiologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and colleagues explained. If these disparities persist, they noted, there may be downstream negative consequences.
“Our results further support that women in academic medicine are likely to experience a larger negative professional impact as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic than their male colleagues, potentially setting back recent progress reported with regards to increasing female radiology authorship over time,” the authors added in the Jan. 26 study. “The magnification of gender disparities by the pandemic could have longer-term effects on career advancement and retention of women faculty, particularly if supportive institutional policies are not put in place.”
Before the pandemic forced healthcare workers and most of the world into lockdown, women in academic medicine reported spending 8.5 more hours per week on domestic tasks and childcare than their partners. Mogensen et al. hypothesized that the pandemic has only worsened these problems and sought to further investigate the topic.
They analyzed manuscript submissions from April through October in both 2019 and 2020, recording author names, institutions, and article types, among other information. Overall, they were able to accurately determine the first, corresponding, and senior authors’ gender in 752 submissions.
In addition to the previously mentioned trends, the team found a drop in original article, opinion, and overall manuscript submissions with female first authors in 2020 compared to a year prior. This, however, did not prove to be statistically significant.
To solidify these trends, the researchers called on publishers to perform similar studies that include longer time periods and multiple journals.
Read the entire study in the Journal of the American College of Radiology here.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.