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Critical Analysis of “Academic Indices Among Oral Pathology and Medicine Fellows in Brazil”

2025; Wiley; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/odi.15259

1601-0825

Gabriel Lima Braz, Letícia Regina Morello Sartori, Laura Barreto Moreno, Françoise Hélène van de Sande, Marcos Britto Corrêa, Flávio Fernando Demarco, Luísa Jardim Corrêa de Oliveira, Sarah Arangurem Karam, Francisco Wilker Mustafa Gomes Muniz, Marília Leão Goettems, Maximiliano Sérgio Cenci, Tatiana Pereira‐Cenci, Giana da Silveira Lima, Rafael Ratto de Moraes, Alini Cardoso Soares, Luiz Alexandre Chisini, Laylla Galdino dos Santos, Maísa Casarin, Noéli Boscato, Marina Christ Franco, Helena Silveira Schuch, Ana Carolina Uchôa Vasconcelos, Anelise Fernandes Montagner,

Radiology practices and education

Our Research Group on Gender Inequalities in Dental Science—registered at OSF as DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/CYM2J—read with particular interest the letter "Gender Equality in Academic Indices of Oral Pathology/Medicine Researchers With CNPq Fellowship," published in your esteemed journal. This letter analyzes gender gaps among Brazilian productivity fellows in the fields of Oral Pathology and Medicine (OP/OM). While the authors draw optimistic conclusions regarding gender parity, we have some reservations concerning the interpretation of the data presented. The authors analyzed census data from 40 researchers in the field of OP/OM who hold research productivity grants from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). A key observation is that, out of the 40 researchers evaluated, only 11 are women, representing just over a quarter of the total. This figure alone underscores that we are far from achieving gender equity in dental research, especially considering that women constitute a quantitative majority in most dental specialties in Brazil. Data from the Federal Council of Dentistry (CFO) indicate that women make up 59% of OP/OM specialists (CFO 2024). Additionally, the study applies statistical tests and reports no statistically significant differences between men and women researchers in terms of the H-index (p = 0.153) and M-index (p = 0.157), inferring "gender equality." However, the observed differences—4.52 points for the H-index (21.55 vs. 26.07) and 0.21 points for the M-index (1.04 vs. 1.25)—are substantial in practical terms. These differences represent relative values of 17.33% for the H-index and 16.80% for the M-index, despite their lack of statistical significance. Furthermore, the statistical analysis shows low power (29% for the H-index and 27% for the M-index), suggesting a high likelihood of Type II errors, where real differences between groups may be undetected. In contrast, the reported disparities should be interpreted as significant in the context of population-level data, particularly given their relative magnitudes, which highlight a noticeable gender gap in these academic indices. It is important to recognize that Latin America stands out for its high representation of women in research (Tiwari et al. 2019), being the only continent where women dominate high-impact OP/OM publications (Braz et al. 2024), and where gender parity is observed among OP/OM society presidents (Santos-Leite et al. 2024). In Brazil, strides have been made to address gender inequalities through the efforts of the country's primary science funding agencies: Coordination for Improving Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and CNPq. In 2024, CAPES created the Permanent Committee on Strategic Actions for Gender Equality, aiming to increase women's representation in decision-making roles within postgraduate programs (CAPES 2024). The same year, CNPq launched the Women and Science Award to support initiatives promoting gender equality (CNPq 2024a, 2024b). While these efforts are crucial, their recent implementation highlights the ongoing journey toward achieving true gender equality. Qualitative analyses could offer deeper insights into gender inequities and help develop frameworks to assess and advance gender equality in science. GENCO Collaborative Group Research Group on Gender Inequalities in Dental Science. Graduate Program of Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil. Gabriel Lima Braz: writing – review and editing, writing – original draft, conceptualization. Letícia Regina Morello Sartori: writing – review and editing. Laura Barreto Moreno: writing – review and editing. Françoise Hélène van de Sande Leite: writing – review and editing. Marcos Britto Correa: writing – review and editing. Flavio Fernando Demarco: writing – review and editing. Luisa Jardim Corrêa de Oliveira: writing – review and editing. Sarah Arangurem Karam: writing – review and editing. Francisco Wilker Mustafa Gomes Muniz: writing – review and editing. Marília Leão Goettems: writing – review and editing. Maximiliano Sérgio Cenci: writing – review and editing. Tatiana Pereira-Cenci: writing – review and editing. Giana da Silveira Lima: writing – review and editing. Rafael Ratto de Moraes: writing – review and editing. Alini Cardoso Soares: writing – review and editing. Luiz Alexandre Chisini: writing – review and editing. Laylla Galdino dos Santos: writing – review and editing. Maísa Casarin: writing – review and editing. Noéli Boscato: writing – review and editing. Marina Christ Franco: writing – review and editing. Helena Silveira Schuch: writing – review and editing. Ana Carolina Uchoa Vasconcelos: writing – review and editing. Anelise Fernandes Montagner: writing – review and editing, conceptualization, writing – original draft, supervision. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.