Gender Disparities in Academic Productivity of Early Career Ophthalmologists with Children

Background: Female academic physicians are less likely than males to be promoted. Gender disparities related to parenthood and academic productivity may contribute to differing promotion trajectories for men and women. Purpose: We investigated the association of gender and parenthood on academic productivity among early career ophthalmologists. Methods: An email questionnaire was distributed to assistant professors of ophthalmology at U.S. institutions from February to April 2023. The questionnaire included items related to demographics, family responsibilities, and academic productivity. Descriptive statistics were calculated by gender alone and gender with parenthood status. Negative binomial regression models were used to analyze the association between academic productivity in the past year and explanatory variables (gender and parenthood status, years since residency, weekly hours worked, time devoted to patient care, demand of partner’s profession, and administrative assistant support). Results: A total of 114 of 371 assistant professors (30.7%) from 21 institutions completed the questionnaire. Of these, 69 (61%) identified as female, 100 (88%) were married or living with a partner, and 95 (83%) had children. Of the 95 parents, female participants were more likely to indicate that they spent more time caring for their children than their partners compared with male participants (32 females [46%] vs. 2 males [4.4%] [p < 0.001]). There were no significant differences by gender alone or gender and parenthood status in academic productivity, even when controlling for other explanatory variables in regression models. In regression models, the number of published articles, abstracts, leadership roles, grants, and invited speakerships were all positively associated with hours worked per week (p < 0.001 to p = 0.03). In free text responses, parents (especially mothers) described the challenges of balancing career and family in academic ophthalmology. Conclusion: Early-career ophthalmologists who were mothers had equivalent academic productivity to fathers despite more caregiving responsibilities, but mothers more frequently described distress over balancing career and family.