Decade-Long Examination of Gender Disparities in Session and Speaker Roles at Hand Surgery Conferences

Abstract

Background:

This study evaluates women speakership over a 10-year period at a major hand surgery conference, specifically focusing on differences in speaker specialty, speaking roles, and session topics.

Methods:

Data from the American Association for Hand Surgery annual conference meeting programs between 2014 and 2024 were collected (excluding 2021 due to its virtual nature). Data regarding gender, speaking role, and specialty were extracted and verified via internet search. Each session was additionally categorized by topic. A reference of 14% women composition was used to compare proportional representation of women in various categories.

Results:

Three thousand and ninety-four speaking opportunities were identified for 1631 presenters, consisting of 27.7% women individual speakers and 28.3% women total speaking opportunities. Women made up the minority of all physician groups and majority of nonphysician groups. Among surgeons, women plastic surgeons were proportionately overrepresented while women orthopedic surgeons were underrepresented. Women constituted 18.8% of leadership and 32.3% of secondary positions. Women composed less than 40% of speakers of all sessions, with proportionately higher leadership rates in nontechnical sessions, panels, abstract sessions, and symposia and similar rates in keynotes and skills courses. Finally, 30.15% of all sessions had men-only speakers.

Conclusion:

Women represent a minority across all categories analyzed, including overall speaking roles, leadership and secondary roles, and session types. Proportionately, women were overrepresented among plastic surgeons and underrepresented among orthopedic surgeons. Despite existing initiatives encouraging women to pursue careers in hand surgery, the field must prioritize achieving gender parity, particularly in representation at national conferences.