The Impact of Faculty Gender on Resident Evaluations of Faculty Performance in Emergency Medicine.

introductionGender bias impacts the promotion and tenure of female emergency medicine (EM) physicians and limits their ability to advance in academic rank. Many factors influence the promotion and tenure process including research, evaluations, opportunities for leadership, sponsorship, and mentorship. The goal of this study is to determine if resident evaluations of EM faculty differ by faculty gender.

methodsA quantitative analysis was used to examine 14,613 teaching evaluations of faculty by residents at a single academic center (The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus) in the years 2017-2019. Anonymized ratings of male and female faculty on a five-point Likert scale were compared using Fischer's exact test and adjusting for multiple comparisons.

resultsMale faculty were more likely to hold the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. When taking both faculty gender and rank into account, male Clinical Instructors and Assistant Professors had significantly higher evaluation scores by residents in the domain of resident autonomy than their female counterparts. Regardless of gender or faculty rank, the majority of faculty received scores greater than four.

conclusionA significant gender difference was found in resident evaluation scores of faculty in the domain of resident autonomy at the level of Clinical Instructor and Assistant Professor. Resident autonomy refers to the degree of supervision by faculty which evolves over time and is primarily based on level of training. This is important as it demonstrates a gender difference in scores that could be used to determine faculty compensation and promotion. Evaluation tools used for promotion and tenure of academic faculty should be evaluated for implicit bias and appropriate statistical analysis.