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There have been growing concerns about a potential shortage of cardiologists in the United States, and one of the primary areas of concern is the continued under-representation of women in cardiology. Despite data showing that nearly equal numbers of men and women are graduating from medical schools, significantly fewer women are selecting cardiovascular training in their education.

In 1996, a survey from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) was administered to assess the professional experience of cardiologists. The survey found that women cardiologists reported lower satisfaction with work and advancement than men in the field. They also reported more discrimination and more limitations due to family responsibilities. In the December 16, 2008 Journal of the American College of Cardiology, my colleagues and I had a study published in which we followed up the 1996 survey to see how trends may have changed.

Analyzing New Trends

According to our findings, there has been some progress over the past 10 years, but there are still other areas of concern. The good news is the number of female cardiologists and fellows has nearly doubled since the 1996 survey. More men and women (over 90%) are satisfied with their careers in cardiology; they also indicated that they were more willing to recommend cardiology as a career to others. There has also been increased confidence in mentors among men and women. About 75% of respondents reported that their mentors have improved as role models.

A similar proportion of women and men today are also working less than full-time, but more women than men have interrupted their training or practice. Although most interruptions for women were for pregnancy or delivery, about a third of the 66% of women surveyed with children did not take more than a month of additional leave. Women continued to feel that family responsibilities had a negative effect on their ability to advance professionally. Female cardiologists were less likely to be married or to have children, a similar trend to what was found 10 years ago. Although women and men were both highly satisfied with their careers in general, more women reported being dissatisfied with their financial compensation.

Discrimination Persists

Unfortunately, discrimination still appears to affect the majority of women in cardiology. Much of it is based on gender and parenting. Many women believed that this negatively influenced their career trajectory. Future work is needed in cardiology to educate physicians to be more sensitive to their colleagues and to help create less hostile and more supportive work environments

Invoking Change

In order to change the culture of medicine, it’s important for institutions to acknowledge gender-specific impediments and improve their support for women. Leaders of hospitals, practices, departments, sections, and subspecialty laboratories should spearhead the effort by not tolerating any type of discrimination. With regard to childrearing, changes in the workplace and in society are necessary. Furthermore, women should be actively recruited and encouraged by mentors to pursue leadership roles. Collectively, we need to take steps to make mentors more available, to further develop the careers of women in cardiology, and to institute workshops that reach out to younger physicians in training. This survey is part of the ACC’s broader efforts to address workforce issues, such as training, leadership and professional development.

Athena Poppas, MD, FACC, has indicated to Physician’s Weekly that she has or has had no financial interests to report.