Since sustained underrepresentation of women within society presidents hinders the achievement of gender equity in medicine, it may be crucial for societies to prioritize examination and mitigation of disparities in the inclusion and support of members, according to a research letter published Jan. 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Julie K. Silver, MD, et al., conducted a cross-sectional study from 2008-2017 and identified one major physician-focused medical society for each of the 43 specialty groupings listed in the 2016 Physician Specialty Data Report. The primary outcome measures were years of presidential leadership attributed to men and women.

Results showed that over the 10-year time period, presidential leadership was held predominantly by men, with men serving as presidents in 82.6 percent of years vs. women serving as presidents in 17.4 percent of years. While women were underrepresented overall, they were significantly underrepresented in 2015 in terms of the percentage of women among society presidents vs. the percentage of women among active physicians (15.4 percent vs. 34.0 percent).

The authors also found that efforts to improve diversity and inclusion may have been more successful in some societies than in others. While four societies had the highest number of years with women presidential leaders (four to six of 10 years), 10 societies had 0 of 10 years with women presidential leaders.

"Society leadership has a role in academic advancement, and leaders may exert considerable influence on their organizations and specialties," the authors write. "We suspect that barriers to equitable representation of women within societies may have affected women's ability to ascend to presidential leadership."

ACC's Diversity and Inclusion Task Force Chair Pamela S. Douglas, MD, MACC, notes that diversity of leadership is a priority of the ACC and leadership development is an essential part of its diversity initiative. "As a result of our efforts, the College will have two female presidents in a span of four years," Douglas writes. "We look forward to a time when diversity and inclusion are fully imbedded in our culture and the success of other societies around the globe, and when we will no longer need to 'count.'"

Keywords: Leadership, Cross-Sectional Studies, Medicine, Societies, Medical, Physicians, Outcome Assessment, Health Care

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