(83) Gender Equity in Periodontology Scholarship

Introduction: In 2021, 51% of dental students identified as she/her, an increase from 45% in 2010. Women represented 38.4% of graduating periodontal residents in 2021, an increase from 35% in 2016 but a decrease from 47.4% in 2020. This study evaluates the trends of women involvement as authors, editors, and scientific advisors in the top four periodontal journals.

Methods: Trending percentages of women serving as authors, peer reviewers, and editorial board members were evaluated for the leading four periodontal journals from 2010-2021 (Journal of Periodontology, Journal of Clinical Periodontology, Journal of Periodontal Research, Periodontology 2000). Authors were downloaded from Pubmed. Gender was determined using the GenderAPI software. Trends were tested using logistic regression.

Results: In the 5822 full-length papers, the percentage of women authors changed from 29% in 2010 to 36% in 2021; first authors changed from 30% to 45%, and last authors from 18% to 26% (all P<.05).

Conclusions: Increased number of women in periodontics does not align with positions as research authors, editorial board members, and scientific advisors in specialty journals. Adding more women representation in editorial roles and scientific advisory boards may be beneficial to facilitating recruitment of females to the field.

Lead Author's Contributions to the Research Project. : The Lead Author was responsible for data collection and manuscript preparation.