Career advancement of men and women in academic radiology: Is the playing field level?

Rationale and Objectives. The authors' purposes were to determine if there are gender differences in the speed of promotion and/or academic productivi ty in academic radiology and if this situation had changed since a previous study was performed in 1987. Materials and Methods. Surveys were distributed to faculty members of acade mic radiology departments in May 1997. A total of 707 surveys were analyzed according to gender for time at rank for assistant and associate professor levels, in relation to publication rate, grant funding rate, and distribut ion of professional time. Results. There was no difference between genders in the time at assistant p rofessor rank. Among all current professors, women had been associate profe ssors longer than men, but there was no difference between genders for thos e who had been in academic radiology for less than 15 years. There was no g ender difference at any rank in the rate of publishing original articles. T here was no difference in funding rates, although men had more total grant support. Male associate professors reported spending more time in administr ation and slightly more time in total hours at work than did their female c olleagues, and male professors spent slightly more time teaching residents. Otherwise, there is no difference in how men and women at any rank spend t heir professional time. There are, however, lower percentages of women in t enured positions and in the uppermost levels of departmental administration . Conclusion. The time at rank for men and women and their rate of publicatio n appear to have equalized. Women still are underrepresented at the uppermo st levels of departmental administration, however, and are less likely than men to hold tenured positions.