Gender and Geographical Representation Disparity Within the National Institute of Health Center for Inherited Disease Research Study Group

Objective: Issues concerning disparities between gender and geographic representation in the scientific field are of increasing concern. The purpose of this study is to address any previous or present bias by investigating the relationship between genders and between geographic regions for members of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) panels.

Methods: Our team retrieved membership rosters for the NIH CIDR study section panels for all meetings held in 2011, 2016, and 2021. We extracted study section membership types, names, academic degrees, and affiliations. The retrieved data was recorded through a pilot-tested google form. To ensure accurate categorization of gender, website searches were conducted and or verified with genderized.io: an algorithm that determines the likelihood a specific name matches a specific gender. Probability values of 𝑛 ≥ 0.6 were accepted for validity.

Results: During the inspection of the ratio of men to women CIDR members, we identified 9 males (45%) and 11 females (55%) in 2011, 7 males (41%) and 10 females (59%) in 2016, and 8 males (40%) and 12 females (60%) in 2021. When we addressed the possibility of geographic disparity, we found that in 2011, 47% of study section members originated from a Southern region (𝑛 = 8), 23% came from a Western region (𝑛 = 4), 17% of members were from the Midwest (𝑛 = 3), and 11% were from the Northeast (𝑛 = 2). In 2016, 28.5% of CIDR members were based in the Northeast (𝑛 = 4), 28.5% were from the Western territory (𝑛 = 4), 21% came from the Midwest (𝑛 = 3), and 21% were located in the south (𝑛 = 3). Lastly in 2021, 35% of the panel were from the Northeast region (𝑛 = 6), 29% originated from a southern region (𝑛 = 5), 17.6% came from the Midwest region (𝑛 = 3), and 17.6% came from the West (𝑛 = 3).

Conclusion: Our results suggest no significant male to female membership bias across the CIDR membership panels. However, they are indicative for geographic underrepresentation, with the highest representation located in the Southern region and the greatest disparities were located in the midwest region.