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JU INSIGHT Characterization of Gender Differences in H-index Within Urological Subspecialties

By: Bridget L. Findlay, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Timothy D. Lyon, MD, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida; Elizabeth N. Bearrick, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Maraika Robinson, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Boyd R. Viers, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Colleen T. Ball, MS, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida; Katherine T. Anderson, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota | Posted on: 30 Aug 2023

Findlay BL, Lyon TD, Bearrick EN, et al. Characterization of gender differences in h-index within urological subspecialties. J Urol. 2023;210(2):341-349.

Study Need and Importance

While there are many factors involved in academic promotion, scholarly activity is one objective measure that plays a major role in career advancement. Previous work in urology has shown that men have higher h-indices than women and proportionally achieve more senior academic rank; however, the degree to which h-indices vary by gender within urological subspecialties has not been well defined.

What We Found

A total of 1,694 academic urologists from 137 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited institutions were included, of whom 308 were women (18%). Urologic oncology had the highest median h-index at 20. This was nearly double that of pediatric urology and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery/urogynecology (13 and 12, respectively), the 2 subspecialties with the highest proportions of women. In our cohort, median (IQR) h-index was 15 (7, 27) for men and 7 (5, 12) for women (see Figure). However, after adjusting for urologist experience (ie, years in practice and MD/PhD status), there was no significant gender difference in h-index for any of the subspecialties.

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Figure. Distribution of h-index among men and women academic urologists according to urological subspecialty. Horizontal lines of the box plots represent the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles. Black dots represent the individual values and are jittered horizontally to minimize overlap. FPMRS indicates female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.

Limitations

The possibility of a type II error (ie, false-negative finding) should be considered when interpreting the findings. Demographic data were collected from department websites, which may not represent the most up-to-date information on faculty members. Additionally, the number of publications and h-indices could have been underestimated upon Scopus review if the individual had another alias (ie, maiden name for female faculty) when starting their academic career. Finally, we acknowledge that gender is not binary, and individuals may identify with a different gender than what was assigned for the purpose of this study. Without universal use of pronouns, we were unable to verify our gender assignments.

Interpretation for Patient Care

After controlling for education and time in practice, we did not observe a statistically significant gender difference in h-index for any of the urological subspecialties.

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