Gender representation in pediatric ophthalmology: an analysis of trends over a decade

Purpose: To assess trends in gender representation in pediatric ophthalmology.

Methods: In this retrospective study, the names of oral and poster presenters at the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) annual meetings and the first and last authors of articles published in Journal of AAPOS (J AAPOS) from 2011 to 2019 were recorded. The gender of presenters and authors was determined with the aid of an online gender tool in conjunction with a comprehensive internet search.

Results: A total of 2,633 presentations, and 2,777 authors were included. Over the study period, female representation in both conferences and journal authorship increased (P > 0.01 and P = 0.01 resp.). Overall, women comprised 44% of oral presentations and 57% of poster presentations at the annual meetings. Of publications in J AAPOS, women comprised 47% of first authors and 38% of last authors. The gender of the first author did not correlate with the gender of the last author (P = 0.9). Conference roles that had the greatest gender disparities were named lecture speakers (27% female vs 73% male [P = 0.01]) and program committee members (34% female vs 66% male [P > 0.01]).

Conclusions: Over the last decade, there has been an increase in representation of women at both AAPOS conferences and authorship in J AAPOS. Gender disparities persist in higher-visibility positions.