Gender Offender: A Chronologic Evaluation of Gender Bias and Geographical Overrepresentation in the National Institute of Health Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease Committee Sessions

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterpeer-review

Abstract

Gender inequality notoriously pervades the scientific and medical communities. This irony is cemented by the fact that scientists-those on the forefront of new thought and exploration who should be the most open to social change and improvement- operate in an enterprise riddled with inequalities. For example, Gender Disparity in Grants and Awards at the National Institute of Health, a study by Beenish Safdar, et al, found that while the number of women graduating doctoral programs is increasing, their percentage of grant obtainment still trails behind that of men. Furthermore, a 2016 article by Wayne P. Walhsfound that of the ten states overfunded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), eight were Northern. While there are many issues to address, our study focuses on geographical and gender inequity in the NIH Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease (DDK-B) grant allotment committee. Our team cataloged the 2011, 2016, and 2021 meeting rosters for the Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases Group B NIH subcommittee. Study authors used a pilot-tested Google form to collect the name, degree, academic rank, committee membership, affiliate institution, home state, and gender for each member. Gender was determined by website searches of institutions. If that step yielded no definitive results, genderize.io was used to determine gender. A probability of 0.6 was required to assign a ‘male’ or ‘female’ value to a committee member. We found that in 2011, 2016, and 2021, NIH DDK-B committee members affiliated with institutions in the south consistently made up the majority of the committee (~30%). In regards to gender, in 2011, women (n=28, 46%) were represented equally to men (n=33, 54%) . However, in 2016 and 2021, female representation dropped to only one-third of committee members (n =17, 38% and n = 28, 35%, respectively). Our study revealed that there are geographic and gender disparities in committee member representation. Unlike Wahls’s observations, we found members from Southern institutions repeatedly outnumbered those from other regions in the United States. Inequalities concerning gender were even more evident and aligned with our expectations. Gender ratios in 2011 were nearly equal, but interestingly, in 2016 and 2021, the gender gap widened significantly. Our research suggests that these inequalities may mirror the broader inequalities in research. By acknowledging these inconsistencies, we can work to make research funding and scientific advancement more diverse.
Original languageAmerican English
Pages57
StatePublished - 18 Feb 2022
EventOklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Research Week 2022 : Poster Presentation - Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, United States
Duration: 14 Feb 202218 Feb 2022
https://medicine.okstate.edu/research/docs/rw2022_agenda.pdf (Research Week 2022 Agenda)

Conference

ConferenceOklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Research Week 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityTulsa
Period14/02/2218/02/22
Internet address

Keywords

  • NIH
  • funding
  • grants
  • gender
  • Diabetes

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