Career advancement of men and women in academic radiology: Is the playing field level?

The authors' purposes were to determine if there are gender differences in the speed of promotion and/or academic productivity in academic radiology and if this situation had changed since a previous study was performed in 1987. Surveys were distributed to faculty members of academic radiology departments in May 1997. A total of 707 surveys were analyzed according to gender for time at rank for assistant and associate professor levels, in relation to publication rate, grant funding rate, and distribution of professional time. There was no difference between genders in the time at assistant professor rank. Among all current professors, women had been associate professors longer than men, but there was no difference between genders for those who had been in academic radiology for less than 15 years. There was no gender difference at any rank in the rate of publishing original articles. There was no difference in funding rates, although men had more total grant support. Male associate professors reported spending more time in administration and slightly more time in total hours at work than did their female colleagues, and male professors spent slightly more time teaching residents. Otherwise, there is no difference in how men and women at any rank spend their professional time. There are, however, lower percentages of women in tenured positions and in the uppermost levels of departmental administration. The time at rank for men and women and their rate of publication appear to have equalized. Women still are underrepresented at the uppermost levels of departmental administration, however, and are less likely than men to hold tenured positions.