Factors affecting R01 grant funding among academic neurosurgeons over the last decade

Academic Accomplishments of Female Neurosurgeons Currently in Practice in the United States

BACKGROUND

Women have now surpassed men in the number of medical students currently enrolled in the United States. However, in surgical subspecialties including neurosurgery, women continue to be significantly underrepresented. The objective of this study was to investigate the academic accomplishments of women in academic neurosurgery as measured by academic title, publications, and grant funding.

METHODS

A list of ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) accredited neurosurgery departments was utilized and department websites were reviewed to collect data regarding female and male faculty. Scopus and National Institutes of Health (NIH) RePORTER websites were used to collect other variables.

RESULTS

Women comprise 11.0% of all academic neurosurgeons. Of the 116 neurosurgery residency programs in the United States, 77% have at least 1 female faculty member. There are 172 academic female neurosurgeons in practice in the United States currently. Of academic female neurosurgeons, 61% are assistant professors, 21% are associate professors, and 18% are professors. Only 20 women hold leadership positions in their departments. Women have an average of 39.7 49.6 publications. The average h-index of academic female neurosurgeons is 12.0 11.1. Twenty-two women have or have had NIH funding with an average cumulative total grant value of $3,409,919. Having NIH funding and more publications is associated with higher academic rank and holding a leadership position. Women have significantly less funding and publications than men.

CONCLUSIONS

Women represent younger faculty with expected publication and grant funding productivity. As women continue to advance into more senior positions, the trends for number of publications and grant funding is expected to increase.

International trends in grant and fellowship funding awarded to women in neurosurgery

OBJECTIVE

Metric tracking of grant funding over time for academic neurosurgeons sorted by gender informs the current climate of career development internationally for women in neurosurgery.

METHODS

Multivariate linear trend analysis of grant funding awarded to neurosurgeons in the NIH and World Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results (RePORTER) was performed. Traveling fellowships for international neurosurgery residents sponsored by the AANS and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) were also analyzed.

RESULTS

Within the US, funding awarded to female neurosurgeons has remained static from 2009 to 2019 after adjusting for inflation and overall trends in NIH funding (β = -$0.3 million per year, p = 0.16). Internationally, female neurosurgeons represented 21.7% (n = 5) of project leads for World RePORTER grants. Traveling fellowships are also an important building block for young international female neurosurgeons, of which 7.4% (n = 2) of AANS international traveling fellowships and 19.4% (n = 7) of AANS/CNS pediatrics international traveling fellowships are women.

CONCLUSIONS

Over the past decade, funding has increased in neurosurgery without a concordant increase in funding awarded to women. Recognition of this trend is essential to focus efforts on research and career development opportunities for women in neurosurgery. Worldwide, female neurosurgeons head one-fifth of the funded project leads and constitute a minority of international traveling fellowships awarded by organized neurosurgery.