(P-ED-4) Gender Distribution on Transfusion’s Monthly Podcast

Gender disparities in academic medicine, and pathology specifically, are well-documented and widespread, affecting journal editorial positions, faculty promotion, recognition awards, and authorship on research articles and clinical practice guidelines. Digital media such as podcasts may offer a platform for more diverse voices. Whether the content and guests of journal-sponsored podcasts in transfusion medicine demonstrate gender disparities is unknown. We sought to evaluate the gender balance of featured researchers and invited guest speakers on the Transfusion journal podcast.

Study

Design/Methods:

We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of all podcasts on the Transfusion podcast webpage (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15372995/podcasts) as of February 8, 2024. Gender of all invited speakers and all first and senior authors for the articles discussed was coded independently by two authors. Gender was classified as man, woman, or non-binary using pronouns or photographs publicly available online, or if unavailable, a web-based gender identification programming tool (https://gender-api.com) (n=2 individuals). All individuals were perceived to identify as a man or woman; thus, we report gender as binary. The observed gender composition was compared to parity (50:50) using a c² test, with a p-value < 0.05 considered significant.

Results/Findings:

Since November 2020, 31 Transfusion podcasts have been published. The episodes discussed 30 total articles and featured 60 guest speakers.  Two individuals (both men) appeared twice as speakers. Among the 58 unique guests that have participated on the podcasts, there was no significant difference in the gender composition (men 53.4%, 31/58, 95% CI: 24-38 vs. women 46.6%, 27/58, 95% CI; 20-34; p=0.69). Among the 30 articles discussed, 29 unique individuals served as first authors, (one man served as first author for two articles) with no significant gender difference (men 51.7%, 15/29, 95% CI: 10-20 vs. women 48.3%, 14/29, 95% CI: 9-19; p>0.99). Similarly, 29 unique individuals served as senior authors (one man served as senior author for two articles) with no significant gender difference (men 58.6%, 17/29, 95% CI: 12-22 vs. women 41.4%, 12/29, 95% CI: 7-17; p=0.46).

Conclusions:

The Transfusion podcast demonstrated gender parity among the invited speakers as well as the first and senior authors of the articles discussed, illustrating that gender parity in this context is feasible. This contrasts with studies from other specialties such as emergency medicine, wherein approximately 84% of all podcast speakers and 77% of guest speakers were men. Other facets of diversity, such as race/ethnicity, age, and nationality, are also vital and warrant investigation. Studying and documenting diversity, equity, and inclusion data in academic medicine and digital media aids in maintaining accountability and monitoring progress.