Studies examine current landscape for women cardiologists

Despite efforts at diversifying the ranks and welcoming more women, cardiology remains a male-dominated profession. In 2013, only 12.3 percent of cardiologists were women, up from 5 percent in 1996 but still the lowest percentage of any medical specialty.

Based on two recent studies, women cardiologists may also face more difficulties than their male colleagues, although the clear majority of both males and females reported being happy with their work lives.

A survey from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) found that women were nearly three times as likely as men to report they experienced some form of discrimination, particularly sex and parenting discrimination.

And according to a study published last month in Circulation, women cardiologists had a 37 percent lower chance of being a full professor at U.S. medical schools even after adjusting for age, clinical experience, cardiology subspecialty and multiple measures of research and clinical productivity. Among internal medical specialties, cardiology and infectious disease were the only areas in which women had significantly lower odds of being a full professor than men.

Still, the ACC study found that 88 percent of female cardiologists were moderately to very satisfied with their work lives and only 1 percent said they were very dissatisfied. In addition, 63 percent were satisfied with their financial situation, 45 percent were very satisfied with their family life and 38 percent were moderately satisfied with their family life.

There were significant differences, though, when it came to perceived discrimination. The survey found that 65 percent of women reported discrimination, a decrease from 71 percent in 1996 but still much higher than the 23 percent of men who reported discrimination in both 1996 and 2013.

The survey was not without its limitations, according to the researchers, including that they could not independently verify the data. They also could not rule out the possibility that people who did not respond to the survey had different experiences compared with people who responded to the survey.

“Addressing the changing demographics and practice settings of the work force, increasing diversity, and achieving parity in race and sex continue to be important goals for the cardiology community,” the researchers wrote. “This study provides comparisons over 2 decades in the microcosm of medicine that cardiology in the United States represents. These data inform our community and allow databased discourse as we assess and plan for the ongoing challenges facing the lives of men and women in cardiology.”

The cardiology professorship study noted that women are making huge strides in medicine. Women now account for half of U.S. medical school graduates and 38 percent of U.S. medical school faculty. Still, at least when it comes to cardiology, women are significantly less likely than men to be full professors, significantly more likely to be assistant professors and similarly likely to be associate professors.

The study’s retrospective design meant that researchers could not infer causation, but the results showed that women cardiologists may be at a significant disadvantage if they seek a full professorship.

“Significant sex differences in academic rank exist among cardiology faculty at US medical schools, and these sex differences are not explained by a number of factors that influence academic rank, including several measures of research and clinical productivity,” the researchers wrote. “Additional efforts to understand the mechanisms underlying these disparities, and to develop targeted interventions to correct them, are urgently needed. 
In particular, further investigations of the heterogeneity in sex differences in academic rank across internal medicine specialties may help to elucidate factors that propagate these disparities within cardiology.”