A Little Gender Representation Progress in EM

A small sample, but promise of progress.

This is just a very brief research report from Annals of Emergency Medicine with a simple look at reported gender from speakers at emergency medicine conferences the past couple years.

The overall reported result – 1,077 (50.5%) women, 1,045 (49.0%) men, and 11 (0.5%) nonbinary – sounds good, but probably deserves a little bit closer inspection:

First, it’s fantastic to see SAEM seems to have erased any suggestion of gender inequality. I tend to believe SAEM slots better reflect a meritocracy in selection, and the future of EM is bright, in that respect.

Second, there’s still work to be done on the “old guard” of EM conferences, ACEP and AAEM, where speaker turnover may not be as great, and perceived eminence contributes to awarding of speaking slots. Ongoing monitoring of these data by the organizing committees for these conferences should examine whether deserving candidates could replace those who have traditionally had recurring speaking slots.