Factors Associated With Endowed Chair Allocation in Medical Oncology in the United States

Abstract

To explore persisting gender disparities across leadership roles in medicine, we examined factors associated with holding endowed chairs in US oncology divisions. In 2019, we identified 95 academic oncology divisions, using the Oncology Division Chiefs and Department Chairs listing in the American Society of Clinical Oncology myConnection forum. We collected public information on gender, degree, total National Institutes of Health funding as principal investigator, H-indices, publication and citation numbers, and graduation year and constructed a multivariable logistic regression model. All statistical tests were 2-sided. We identified 1087 oncology full professors. Of these, 287 (26.4%) held endowed chairs: 60 of 269 women (22.3%) vs 227 of 818 men (27.8%) (P ¼ .08). On multivariable analysis, greater research productivity and National Institutes of Health funding were associated with having an endowed chair (P < .001), whereas gender was not (P ¼ .45). Though sample size was limited, if gender differences are in fact smaller in certain subspecialties than other fields of internal medicine, insights might emerge to guide efforts to promote equity.