Survey shows sex disparities in hematology research productivity
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For Allison A. King, MD, MPH, PhD, a recent study of junior hematologists who attended ASH’s mentored research training program yielded largely positive results.
“Overall, the trainees did very well. About 90% of the people who went through the training are still engaged in hematology research,” King, associate professor of occupational therapy, pediatrics and medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told Healio. “There’s a hematologist shortage and we’re trying to get people to remain in hematology research, so that’s very positive.”
However, the study — which assessed the effect of caregiving responsibilities on academic success — also revealed a disconcerting phenomenon.
Among 258 program alumni surveyed, men had almost twice as many research publications as women (median, 12 vs. 6.5; P = .0002), as well as more first-or senior-author publications (median, 4 vs. 3; P = .002). This gender effect persisted regardless of respondents’ caregiving status.
Although caregiving responsibility appeared to be linked to decreased academic productivity in general, researchers observed the effect primarily among men.
“Part of our charge is to think about how we can level the playing field so that people of any gender, or any level of caregiving responsibility, can have the same number of opportunities,” King said. “It may be that workplaces will decide to allow more flexibility in where and when we get our work done and be less rigid in deciding that.”
King spoke to Healio about her findings, the benefits of the ASH training program and the need to retain hematology researchers.
Question: What prompted you to undertake this study?
Answer: I attended the Clinical Research Training Institute offered by ASH in 2005. It’s a great opportunity for junior faculty in hematology research to get more training in the field. I’ve remained engaged with it as faculty, and I chair the evaluation committee. A few years ago, we reviewed surveys sent to the trainees to evaluate their progress in their academic careers, including promotions, publications and research grants. We observed a clear difference between the sexes. However, we didn’t ask about the factors that might have contributed to that. I suspected it might be due to caregiver responsibilities, primarily involving child care. So, we revised the survey and asked specifically about caregiver responsibility. That was one of the primary outcomes on our follow-up survey.
Q: What did you find?
A: We were impressed by the loyalty that trainees feel to the program. We had 92% response rate to the survey. Although everyone is doing well overall, there is a difference between the sexes in standard measures of productivity used by academic institutions. As far as publications, the group on average had about eight since the previous survey, conducted about 3 years earlier. Men reported an average of 12 papers, and women reported between six and seven.
Being first or last author on a publication has greater value for researchers when they’re evaluated for promotion. Men had, on average, four first- or senior-author publications vs. three for women. So, although men had so much more of any type of authorship, there was no real difference between sexes in first or senior authorship. We tried to tackle that in the discussion. We thought that if women are typically the caregiver, and they have a lot of responsibilities as parents and in their professional lives, they might be choosier as to what papers they spend their time on. Women may think, “Well, I only have so much time in the day. I’m going to focus on the things that I have the most impact on, that are going to influence the next phase of my work.” They might to do this instead of dipping their toe into multiple projects and being a middle author on more papers.
Q: Your study showed caregiving decreased academic productivity primarily among men. Does this mean caregiving was not a significant factor in the overall lower productivity of women?
A: When these results came in, I wished we’d asked how much time respondents spent providing care for other family members. This has been rectified in our next round of evaluation. We specifically asked respondents to estimate the number of hours they spend each week on caregiving, either for children or other family members. Pew Research Center published a paper in 2013 that showed mothers spent almost twice as much time providing care to children as fathers. Both parents say they are providing care, but when you really drill down on it, the women are spending more time providing care. As far as men’s productivity being more strongly impacted by caregiver responsibilities, there could be various explanations. We’re planning research that will focus on qualitative data so we can better understand the reasons for these disparities.
Q: What needs to be done to improve productivity for caregivers?
A: Some systems in the workplace are not set up for a family-friendly schedule. If you’ve got to get your kids to school before work, a 7 a.m. meeting doesn’t work very well. Multiple universities have seminars now on diversity and inclusion, and responding to diverse needs in scheduling can really engage people so they can have equal opportunities to participate in projects of any type. It’s useful to ask faculty about barriers and facilitators of their work. Often, it’s flexibility in the schedule, allowing for a little bit more remote work, or collaboration outside of a board room or conference room. I think it will be helpful to allow people to still engage, but on a more flexible basis. – by Jennifer Byrne
References:
King AA, et al. Blood Adv. 2020;doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2019000084.
Pew Research Center. Modern parenthood: Roles of moms and dads converge as they balance work and family. Available at: https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/03/14/modern-parenthood-roles-of-moms-and-dads-converge-as-they-balance-work-and-family/. Accessed on March 17, 2020.
For more information:
Allison A. King, MD, MPH, PhD, can be reached at 1 Children’s Place, St. Louis, MO 63110; email: king_a@wustl.edu.
Disclosure: King reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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