Gender leadership in gynecologic oncology professional societies worldwide

Abstract

Objective: We aim to study gender representation among the different national gynecologic oncology (GO) societies' presidents over the past decade. Methods: A cross-sectional study examining the period 2013–2022. The leadership positions in 11 GO societies in the USA (SGO), internationally (IGCS), Europe (ESGO), Australia (ASGO), Israel (ISGO), Japan (JSGO), Asia-Oceania (AOGIN), India (INSGO), Latin America (SLAGO), South Africa (SASGO), and Turkey (TRSGO) was studied. The proportion of leadership positions held by women was calculated and trends were evaluated. Results: Overall, the average rate of women's representation during the study period was 26.4%, and for the different organizations was: SASGO 70.0%, SGO 50.0%, ESGO 40.0%, ASGO 30.0%, INSGO 30.0%, and IGCS, ISGO, and SLAGO 20.0% each, TRSGO 10%, and no representation of women in JSGO and AOGIN. There was a significant decrease from 2013 to 2016 (63.6% to 9.1%) (P = 0.009) in women's representation as presidents of societies. From 2017 to 2022, there was no difference in women's representation (ranging from 9.1% to 36.4%) (P = 0.13). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that women are significantly under-represented in leadership positions in GO professional societies; however, in South Africa and the USA their representation in the last decade was close to equality.