Gender representation trends in cardiothoracic surgery journal editorial boards.

Objective: We aimed to characterize chronologic trends of gender composition of the editorial boards of major cardiothoracic surgery journals in the current era.
Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed of gender representation in editorial board members of 2 North American cardiothoracic surgery journals from 2008 to 2023. Member names and roles were collected from available monthly issues. Validated software programming was used to classify gender. The annual proportion of women representation was compared to the thoracic surgery workforce.
Results: During the study period, 558 individuals (3641 names) were identified, 14.3% of whom were women. The total number of editorial board women increased for both journals. The proportion of women also increased from 2.5% (3 out of 118) in 2008 to 17.8% (71 out of 399) in 2023 (P < .001), exceeding the percentage of women in the thoracic surgery workforce, which increased from 3.8% in 2007 to 8.3% in 2021 (P < .001). The average duration of participation was longer for men than for women (53.8 vs 44.5 months; P = .01). Women in editorial board senior roles also increased from 3.3% (1 out of 30) in 2008 to 28.6% (42 out of 147) in 2023 (P < .001), almost triple the increase in nondesignated roles from 2.3% (2 out of 88) in 2008 to 11.5% (29 out of 252) in 2023 (P < .001).
Conclusions: In recent years, the appointment of women to the editorial boards of high-impact cardiothoracic surgery journals and senior roles have proportionally exceeded the overall representation of women in cardiothoracic surgery. These findings indicate progress in inclusive efforts and offer insight toward reducing academic gender disparities.
Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement Dr Milewski is a consultant for Destiny Pharma. Drs Woodard and Antonoff are consultants for Astra Zeneca. Dr Antonoff is also a consultant for Bristol Meyers Squibb and Merck. All other authors reported no conflicts of interest. The Journal policy requires editors and reviewers to disclose conflict of interest and to decline handling or reviewing manuscripts for which they may have a conflict of interest. The editors and reviewers of this article have no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)