The Gender Gap in Promotions: Inhibitors and Catalysts, Strategies to Close the Gap

The gender gap is an amalgam of gender disparity issues in the workplace ranging from fewer opportunities to network, decreased funding for research, microaggressions, nebulous promotional criteria and difficulty achieving the perception of professionalism because of inherent gender bias. Contributing home factors include more substantial household duties for women typically, spouses who also have a career, and the inherent delay associated with maternity leave for those who choose to have children. This article subdivides gender disparity that impedes promotion into experiences inside and outside the workplace. Disparities within the workplace are divided into directly quantified versus qualitative differences.

Trends in the Authorship of Peer Reviewed Publications in the Urology Literature

INTRODUCTION

We evaluated the authorship count of all original research and review articles published in prominent Urology journals to trend patterns in authorship over the last decade. Secondarily, we evaluated bibliometric assessments and sought to understand whether authorship count was associated with citation rate and each article's field-normalized measure of impact.

METHODS

Information on authorship count, date of publication, study type, journal of publication, citation rate, and relative citation ratio (RCR) was collected for all original research and review articles published in European Urology, Journal of Urology, Urology, and British Journal of Urology International between 2006 and 2016. We examined trends in authorship count over the past decade, as well as between journals and article types.

RESULTS

21,336 articles were analyzed, of which 19,527 (91.5%) were original research and 1,809 (8.5%) were review articles. Overall, number of authors increased 46.1% from 2006 to 2016. Authorship counts in original research articles increased by an average of 2.45 per manuscript (43.3% increase) over the decade analyzed. More dramatically, authorship counts in review articles increased by an average of 3.14 per manuscript (92.6% increase). Articles with higher authorship counts were associated with more citations and greater RCR (r=0.13, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

There is a global trend towards more authors per article in urology publications-in both original research publications and review articles, and across each of the individual journals evaluated. An increase in author count has also been associated with increased citations and measures of article impact.

What do I want from my urology training?

INTRODUCTION

The basic aims of a urology trainee are broadly similar, with the need to be trained to a competent level of surgical and clinical skill being a general theme.

AIM

In this article I provide a short list of what I felt were and are the most important elements in my training as I enter my final 5 years of specialist registrar training, having completed 3 years of research for an MD, 3 years as a surgery/urology Senior House Officer, a year as a House Officer and 6 years in medical school. Some of the points will, of course, be more personal, but hopefully this will give some perspective to the exciting early years in a young urologist's career.