Letter by Viswanath and Ahmad Regarding Article, “National Trends of Sex Disparity in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline Writing Committee Authors Over 15 Years”
2021; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 14; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1161/circoutcomes.121.008001
ISSN1941-7705
AutoresAishwarya Viswanath, Mahmood Ahmad,
Tópico(s)Healthcare Systems and Challenges
ResumoHomeCirculation: Cardiovascular Quality and OutcomesVol. 14, No. 7Letter by Viswanath and Ahmad Regarding Article, "National Trends of Sex Disparity in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline Writing Committee Authors Over 15 Years" Free AccessLetterPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyRedditDiggEmail Jump toFree AccessLetterPDF/EPUBLetter by Viswanath and Ahmad Regarding Article, "National Trends of Sex Disparity in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline Writing Committee Authors Over 15 Years" Aishwarya Viswanath, iBSC Mahmood AhmadMBBS Aishwarya ViswanathAishwarya Viswanath https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7519-2754 University College London, England (A.V.). and Mahmood AhmadMahmood Ahmad Tahir Heart Institute, Rabwah, Pakistan (M.A.). Originally published24 Jun 2021https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.121.008001Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2021;14To the Editor:We commend the article by Rai et al1 about disparities in guideline writing committees for being the first study to analyze sex differences in American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association national guideline writing committees. This study showed that sex disparities remain after 15 years, with a female involvement of 27.3% in writing guidelines but is a marked improvement over the years, from 3.6% in 2005. Despite promising trends in female involvement in higher faculty positions, the disparity in women in decision-making positions in cardiology still remains large.Factors that sway women against a cardiology career should be further examined. In Germany, a cross-sectional study2 analyzed answers from 278 women and 289 men from the German Cardiac Society, showing that average monthly income varied significantly between women and men. Furthermore, a third of women reported sexual harassment in the workplace, and three-quarters asked for gender balance at a management level. A UK review3 highlights the rise in reported sexism in female trainees from 6% in early-stage (ST3/4) training to 15% in late-stage (ST5) training. Female role models in cardiology is an important factor in driving recruitment of new trainees, but the gender pay gap and everyday sexism experienced in senior faculty are reasons for fewer female trainees feeling secure in taking up decision-making positions.Moreover, only 4%3 of cardiology trainees work less than full time in the United Kingdom. Less than full-time training is traditionally associated with home and childcare responsibilities and is accompanied by a perceived lack of support within the community for it. A lack of work-life balance and excessive workload4,5 are arguments against a cardiology career. This could be addressed by giving trainees positive reinforcement and mentorship from senior faculty. We were impressed by the efforts at Duke,4 who showed that specific initiatives can increase the proportion of female applicants by 13% in only 3 years, showing that appropriate changes can improve the sex disparity quickly. This study could be an example for other institutions to base their initiatives. However, we would add that further support for female trainees is required throughout their careers to get women to the final step of being made members of guideline-making committees. For example, senior female faculty could be urged to take on mentorship roles and create an encouraging and safe work environment for juniors.Modern workplaces are journeying away from tolerance of archaic gender roles and towards equality between men and women. Again, we commend the authors for underscoring the sex disparity that still exists, but which is slowly improving, in the American Heart Association. However, that improvement could be hastened by focusing on global policies that eradicate gender bias, sexism and harassment in the workplace, and creating positive, safe work environments, and appreciation from senior colleagues towards trainees and less than full-time training. These policies should be active and supportive of trainees throughout the span of their career. Hopefully, with these ideas in mind, future generations of trainees will enter a more equal field.Disclosures None.References1. Rai D, Tahir MW, Waheed SH, Kapoor A, Pandey R, Barssoum K, Hajra A, Balmer-Swain M, Michos ED, Gulati M. National trends of sex disparity in the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline Writing Committee authors over 15 years.Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2021; 14:e007578. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.120.007578LinkGoogle Scholar2. Dettmer S, Wenzel A, Trenkwalder T, Tiefenbacher C, Regitz-Zagrosek V. Gender and career in cardiology-a cross-sectional study.Herz. 2021; 46:150–157. doi: 10.1007/s00059-021-05027-0CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Sinclair HC, Joshi A, Allen C, Joseph J, Sohaib SMA, Calver A, Smith R. Women in cardiology: the British Junior Cardiologists' Association identifies challenges.Eur Heart J. 2019; 40:227–231. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy828CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Rymer JA, Frazier-Mills CG, Jackson LR, Thomas KL, Douglas PS, Wang A, Patel MR, Crowley AL. Evaluation of women and underrepresented racial and ethnic group representation in a general cardiology fellowship after a systematic recruitment initiative.JAMA Netw Open. 2021; 4:e2030832. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.30832CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails July 2021Vol 14, Issue 7Article InformationMetrics Download: 39 © 2021 American Heart Association, Inc.https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.121.008001PMID: 34162220 Originally publishedJune 24, 2021 PDF download SubjectsWomen, Sex, and Gender
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