Analysis of Speaking Opportunities by Gender at National Dermatologic Surgery Conferences

BACKGROUND: Although gender disparities for those entering medicine have equalized, the number of women advancing in academia has remained low. Studies have demonstrated that women's representation at academic medical conferences has also remained low across multiple fields. Given that conference presentations and national reputation serve as metrics for academic promotion, women's representation at dermatology conferences may provide insight into women's academic productivity. OBJECTIVE: To examine the gender composition of presenters and speaking time at the 2 main national dermatologic surgery conferences. METHODS: Speaker's gender, presentation time, and topics were collected for 2009 to 2017 for the American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) Annual Meetings. RESULTS: Women had significantly fewer speaking opportunities and speaking minutes at both conferences. This disparity was most pronounced in reconstruction topics and least pronounced in cosmetics topics. The majority of top speakers, repeat speakers, and keynote speakers were men for both conferences. Oral abstracts showed no gender disparity at either conference. CONCLUSION: Women spoke less than men at both the ASDS and ACMS annual meetings over multiple years studied. Recently, this disparity in speaking opportunities has decreased. Further studies are needed to evaluate the speaking opportunities for women at other types of dermatology conferences.