A Gendered Analysis of Canadian Academic Ophthalmology Leaders

Objective To describe and analyze the gender distribution of Canadian academic ophthalmology leadership. Methods This study assessed the characteristics of ophthalmology department chairs, program directors, undergraduate directors, fellowship directors, and research directors in Canada. Gender, subspecialties, graduate degrees, and academic rank were collected from institutional websites. Research productivity measures (number of published documents, h-index, and years active) were extracted from Elsevier SCOPUS. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. Results In the 15 Canadian ophthalmology programs, 132 leadership positions were held by 122 physicians. 33 (27.0%) of those physicians were women, and 89 (73.0%) were men, with a significant proportion difference (p Conclusion Compared to the 28% of active women ophthalmologists (Canadian Medical Association, 2019), our study demonstrates a similar proportion of women leaders with 27% overall. Positive outlooks are noted when regarding the proportions of women chairpersons (28.6%) and program directors (35.3%). Women leaders were underrepresented in academic ranks and most ophthalmic subspecialties, while there were no significant differences in their research scores (h-index and m-quotient). Future directions include understanding factors contributing to advancement in leadership and strategies to improve the gender gap in ophthalmology.