Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications

PURPOSEAuthorship gender disparities persist across academic disciplines, including oncology. However, little is known about global variation in authorship gender distribution.METHODSThis retrospective cross-sectional study describes the distribution of author gender as determined from the first nam...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paula Hornstein, Hubert Tuyishime, Miriam Mutebi, Nwamaka Lasebikan, Fidel Rubagumya, Temidayo Fadelu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Society of Clinical Oncology 2022-03-01
Series:JCO Global Oncology
Online Access:https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/GO.21.00369
_version_ 1818356535820025856
author Paula Hornstein
Hubert Tuyishime
Miriam Mutebi
Nwamaka Lasebikan
Fidel Rubagumya
Temidayo Fadelu
author_facet Paula Hornstein
Hubert Tuyishime
Miriam Mutebi
Nwamaka Lasebikan
Fidel Rubagumya
Temidayo Fadelu
author_sort Paula Hornstein
collection DOAJ
description PURPOSEAuthorship gender disparities persist across academic disciplines, including oncology. However, little is known about global variation in authorship gender distribution.METHODSThis retrospective cross-sectional study describes the distribution of author gender as determined from the first name across variables such as authorship position (first, middle, and last), country region, and country income level. The 608 articles with 5,302 authors included in this analysis were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Global Oncology, from its inception in October 2015 through March 2020. Primary outcome measure was author gender on the basis of first name probabilities assessed by genderize.io. World Bank classification was used to categorize the country region and income level. Odds ratios were used to describe associations between female last authorship and representation in other authorship positions.RESULTSAlthough female authors were in the minority across all authorship positions, they were more under-represented in the last author position with 190 (32.1%) female, compared with 252 (41.4%) female first authors and 1,564 (38.1%) female middle authors. Female authors were most under-represented among authors from low-income countries, where they made up 21.6% of first authors and 9.1% of last authors. Of all the regions, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia had the lowest percentage of female authors. Compared with articles with male last authors, those with female last authors had odds ratios (95% CI) of 2.2 (1.6 to 3.2) of having female first authors and 1.4 (0.9 to 2.1) of having 50% or more female middle authors.CONCLUSIONThere are wide regional variations in author gender distribution in global oncology. Female authors remain markedly under-represented, especially in lower-income countries, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Future interventions should be tailored to mitigate these disparities.
first_indexed 2024-12-13T19:58:46Z
format Article
id doaj.art-c811fe86c80146d0b1bd08822e5a746d
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2687-8941
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-13T19:58:46Z
publishDate 2022-03-01
publisher American Society of Clinical Oncology
record_format Article
series JCO Global Oncology
spelling doaj.art-c811fe86c80146d0b1bd08822e5a746d2022-12-21T23:33:14ZengAmerican Society of Clinical OncologyJCO Global Oncology2687-89412022-03-01810.1200/GO.21.00369Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology PublicationsPaula Hornstein0Hubert Tuyishime1Miriam Mutebi2Nwamaka Lasebikan3Fidel Rubagumya4Temidayo Fadelu5Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena, CAPartners In Health, Boston, MABreast Surgical Oncology, Aga Khan University, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Radiation Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, NigeriaRwanda Military Hospital, Kigali, RwandaCenter for Global Cancer Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MAPURPOSEAuthorship gender disparities persist across academic disciplines, including oncology. However, little is known about global variation in authorship gender distribution.METHODSThis retrospective cross-sectional study describes the distribution of author gender as determined from the first name across variables such as authorship position (first, middle, and last), country region, and country income level. The 608 articles with 5,302 authors included in this analysis were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Global Oncology, from its inception in October 2015 through March 2020. Primary outcome measure was author gender on the basis of first name probabilities assessed by genderize.io. World Bank classification was used to categorize the country region and income level. Odds ratios were used to describe associations between female last authorship and representation in other authorship positions.RESULTSAlthough female authors were in the minority across all authorship positions, they were more under-represented in the last author position with 190 (32.1%) female, compared with 252 (41.4%) female first authors and 1,564 (38.1%) female middle authors. Female authors were most under-represented among authors from low-income countries, where they made up 21.6% of first authors and 9.1% of last authors. Of all the regions, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia had the lowest percentage of female authors. Compared with articles with male last authors, those with female last authors had odds ratios (95% CI) of 2.2 (1.6 to 3.2) of having female first authors and 1.4 (0.9 to 2.1) of having 50% or more female middle authors.CONCLUSIONThere are wide regional variations in author gender distribution in global oncology. Female authors remain markedly under-represented, especially in lower-income countries, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Future interventions should be tailored to mitigate these disparities.https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/GO.21.00369
spellingShingle Paula Hornstein
Hubert Tuyishime
Miriam Mutebi
Nwamaka Lasebikan
Fidel Rubagumya
Temidayo Fadelu
Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications
JCO Global Oncology
title Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications
title_full Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications
title_fullStr Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications
title_full_unstemmed Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications
title_short Authorship Equity and Gender Representation in Global Oncology Publications
title_sort authorship equity and gender representation in global oncology publications
url https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/GO.21.00369
work_keys_str_mv AT paulahornstein authorshipequityandgenderrepresentationinglobaloncologypublications
AT huberttuyishime authorshipequityandgenderrepresentationinglobaloncologypublications
AT miriammutebi authorshipequityandgenderrepresentationinglobaloncologypublications
AT nwamakalasebikan authorshipequityandgenderrepresentationinglobaloncologypublications
AT fidelrubagumya authorshipequityandgenderrepresentationinglobaloncologypublications
AT temidayofadelu authorshipequityandgenderrepresentationinglobaloncologypublications