Female Representation in Academic Medicine in Pakistan: A 15-Year Overview

Objective: To determine the proportion of female authors publishing in Pakistan and their representation in academic anesthesiology. Design, place, and duration of study: This study was a cross-sectional retrospective analysis. We reviewed all volumes and issues of the Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (JCPSP) published from 2007 to 2021. All original articles, clinical practice articles (CPAs), reviews, and editorials were included. The first and last authors publishing in JCPSP were the study subjects. Main outcome measures: Gender of the first and last authors was determined by (a) a general review of the author’s first, middle, and last names, (b) an internet search of the author’s name, and a review of photographs on their social media, or (c) an online search of the author’s first name for typical gender assignment. The research field of the first author was noted to determine the contribution of different medical specialties. Article type and the number of citations were noted to determine the relationship with the gender of the author. Results: Around 1549 papers were published by Pakistani authors, of which, 82.6% were original articles, 9.8% were editorials, 5.5% were CPAs, and 2.1% were reviews. Around 56.2% of the first authors and 70.9% of the last authors were males. Most article types had a majority of male first and last authors (<0.001). The median (interquartile range) citation rate was two (0-19), with no difference in citations between gender. Male-male author pairing remained the most common (45.6%). The majority of the papers published belonged to the field of medicine (27.2%) and surgery (21%), with only 3.1% contributed by anesthesiology (females: 41.3%; males: 58.6%). Conclusion: Female representation in academia in Pakistan is at par with developed countries. The academic contribution from anesthesiology remains low, which corresponds to a lower percentage of the anesthesia workforce in the country. There is a need for a national indexed journal of anesthesia to evaluate the true representation of female authors in the country.