Gender Disparity in the Field of Radiological Technologies

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Historical Background of Gender Disparity in Radiology
Analysis on Gender Disparity in Radiology
Possible Solutions to Gender Disparity in Radiology
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Gender disparity has always been an actively discussed topic in the field of medicine. In recent years, more papers started to focus on specific subjects of medical science, including radiological technologies. As research suggests, in emergency radiology in the United States of America, only 22.2% of specialists are female, making the field dominated mainly by men (O’Neill et al., 2017). Other scientists suggest that in North America, among 2826 radiology specialists, only 32.6% were women (Hamidizadeh et al., 2018). This large difference between the number of male and female specialists in modern medicine becomes a demotivation for the latter to pursue careers in radiological technologies.

Radiological technologies, like any other medical field, continue to expand and develop. Therefore, ensuring diversity and equality within that field is an essential part of its development. This paper will briefly look at the literature regarding the topic of gender disparity in radiology and find the reasoning behind why women are hesitant to pursue it professionally. Finally, it will try to provide possible solutions for the issue of small gender diversity.

Historical Background of Gender Disparity in Radiology

Radiation continues to be one of the least gender-diverse fields of medicine. According to Piper et al. (2017), despite the upward trend in the number of women in medicine, radiology continues to be a mostly male-dominated sphere. Based on the same research, in 1980 the number of female radiology residents amounted to 19.2% (Piper et al., 2017). Thirty years later, in 2013, the amount increased to 26.9% (Li et al.,2021). Medical scientists and doctors believe that the reason behind the underrepresentation of women in radiology is due to decreased quality of patient care, teaching, and research (Piper et al., 2017). Thus, radiology continues to be the most male-dominant sphere among others in modern medicine.

Male dominance in radiology continues to be an issue not only in practical medicine but also in the academic field. As a result, despite women being more likely to pursue academic careers in medicine, they still struggle to reach senior positions (Zenner et al., 2020). In the medical field, academic advancement is mostly driven by peer-reviewed original papers, editorial publications, and scholarly accomplishments. These factors serve as a standard for academic promotion. According to Li et al. (2021), women in theoretical radiology do not publish their peer-reviewed articles with the same frequency as men do. Moreover, even though there is almost an equal number of men and women enrolling in medical schools and residency, the first is less likely to participate in major research programs or apply for academic scholarships (Adam et al., 2022). Thus, it can be said that women are not only underrepresented in radiology but are also demotivated to pursue that career academically.

Analysis on Gender Disparity in Radiology

Due to gender disparity in the sphere of radiology, women are not only demotivated to pursue both academic and residential careers but are also paid less. According to Zenner et al. (2020), all payments for women who work in radiology were significantly less compared to men. While the mean payment for men was $19,153.44, women had only $1,370 (Zenner et al., 2020). The only sphere where the difference in salary was not drastic was education. Based on the same research, despite women being 13% of total radiology physicians, they only received 1% of industry payment, which identifies the issue of gender disparity and its effect on the financial sector (Zenner et al., 2020). This is the most extreme gender and payment gap among all medical spheres, including ration oncology and ophthalmology, for which the total payments for women were 5% and 9%, respectively (Zenner et al., 2020). That way, there is a proof of a strong gender bias in the field of radiology.

Possible Solutions to Gender Disparity in Radiology

Before proposing ways of solving the issue of gender disparity, it is essential to find the reasons why women prefer not to choose radiology as their academic or residential career. As Adam et al. (2022) suggest, women link the lack of patient-doctor interaction in radiology as the main reason why they do not pursue it. Additionally, the lack of acknowledgment from patients and higher competition in the field are also possible reasons for the reluctance over residential radiology. As Zenner et al. (2020) state, many patients still do not address female doctors as so. Moreover, this field of radiology requires knowledge of physics, which most the female respondents find challenging. Thus, these reasons explain why women prefer other medical fields during their studies rather than radiological technologies.

Diversity and gender equality are important not only because of ethics. They also help in gaining more profit and improving performance of the organization. According to Li et al. (2021), who link research by Ernst Young, a company with 30% of female leaders can add 1% more to its net margin and improve team performance by almost 21%. Therefore, medical facilities should prioritize reducing the gender gap more and encourage women to pursue radiology.

Recruiting more women into radiology is the main and most obvious action that can be taken to reduce the gender gap. Less exposure to and lack of interaction with patients can be compensated by introducing the subject of radiology as early as possible to the students during their studies. Additionally, more scholarships and mentoring programs should be introduced to female students. As was discussed earlier, women publish research papers significantly less frequently than their male peers. Therefore, giving the first the opportunity to publish more, and conduct scientific research can encourage them more to pursue a career in radiological technologies. According to Piper et al. (2017), female first publishers are more likely to work under mentoring of female senior publishers. Considering the fact that there are more male publishers, this can indicate that women are limited to only female mentors who are already in the minority. Therefore, more young female researchers should be welcomed to work under the supervision of both male and female mentors.

Conclusion

To summarize, radiological technologies are still one of the least gender-equal spheres of modern medicine. Lack of peer-reviewed articles by female publishers, higher competition, and gender bias in the field are the reasons why women are less motivated to pursue radiology. Moreover, women consider doctor-patient interactions and doctor acknowledgment from patients to be one of the main factors before choosing a professional career in medicine, which are lacking in the radiology department. Therefore, medical facilities should prioritize exposing female residents to radiology more, provide more scholarships and mentoring programs, and recruit more female staff. Thus, they can ensure higher motivation for women in radiology and, additionally, benefit their own company by making more profit and improving the facility’s performance. Nowadays, every facility should prioritize reducing the gender gap and gender disparity to ensure equality, better performance, and more effective communication.

References

Adam, S., Rybicki, F. J., Mahoney, M. C., Yong-Hing, C. J., & Hosa, F. (2022). Analysis of Gender disparity in US and Canadian radiology residency programs.Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, 51(1), 21–24. Web.

Hamidizadeh, R., Jalal, S., Pindiprolu, B., Tiwana, M. H., Macura, K. J., Qamar, S. R., Nicolaou, S., & Khosa, F. (2018). Influences for Gender Disparity in the Radiology Societies in North America.American Journal of Roentgenology, 218(4), 831–838. Web.

Li, O., Ross, M., & Wiserman, D. (2021). Women in Interventional Radiology: Exploring the Gender Disparity in Canada.Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, 50(2), 115–118. Web.

O’Neill, S. B., Maddu, K., Jalal, S., Yeo, S., Khurshin, K., Qamar, S. R., Nicolaou, S., & Khosa, F. (2017). Gender Disparity in Chest Radiology in North America.Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, 50(1), 18–22. Web.

Piper, P. L., Scheel, J. R., Lee, C. I., & Forman, H. P. (2017). Gender Trends in Radiology Authorship: A 35-Year Analysis.American Roentgen Ray Society, 206(1), 3–7. Web.

Zenner, R., Lee, S. Y., Visscher, K. L., Ricketts, M., Speer, S., & Wiserman, D. (2020). Women in Radiology: Exploring the Gender Disparity.Journal of the American College of Radiology, 13(3), 344–350. Web.

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