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PURPOSE: To describe gender representation at eight national ophthalmology conferences, stratified by role, session category, and sub-specialty. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. STUDY POPULATION: 3,817 presenters at the 2019 American Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty days, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, American Glaucoma Society, American Society of Retina Specialists, American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society, and American Uveitis Society meetings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gender of presenters in seven sub-specialties stratified by category and role. RESULTS: The proportion of female presenters was less than the ABO-estimated proportion of women in their respective fields in glaucoma (28.0% vs. 39.8%), neuro-ophthalmology (35.3% vs. 45.3%), and pediatrics (42.1% vs. 53.3%) and greater than expected in retina (24.6% vs. 19.8%). Overall, the proportion of female presenters exceeded the ABO-estimated proportion of females in ophthalmology (24.5%) for clinical (mean: 38.5%, 95% CI: [35.8%, 41.4%]) and scientific (39.4% [30.3%, 49.2%]) sessions. For clinical sub-specialty sessions, the proportion of female leaders exceeded the overall proportion of female leaders in the respective sub-specialty in cornea (35.1%, [30.4%, 40.1%] vs. 24.6% all sessions). Females represented fewer than the expected number of surgical session leaders in cornea (22.0% [19.9%, 24.3%]), glaucoma (18.0% [13.2%, 24.1%]), pediatrics (22.0% [14.4%, 32.1%]), and retina (18.6% [14.2%, 24.1%]). CONCLUSIONS: Gender representation varied, with fewer than expected female presenters in glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, and pediatrics. Females led relatively more clinical sessions, but were underrepresented in surgical sessions, in most sub-specialties.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
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