Analysis of H-index in Assessing Gender Differences in Academic Rank and Leadership in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the United States and Canada

Objectives: The aims of the study were ( 1) to establish potential gender differences in academic physical medicine and rehabilitation faculty across the United States and Canada and ( 2) to evaluate associations between physician gender, leadership position, and research productivity. Design: Physical medicine and rehabilitation programs enlisted in Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database ( n = 72) and Canadian ResidentMatching Service ( n = 9) were searched for academic faculty with Doctor ofMedicine degrees to generate a database of gender and academic profiles. Bibliometric data were collected using Elsevier's Scopus and analyzed by Strata v14.2. Results: Of 1045 faculty meeting the inclusion criteria, 653 were men and 392 were women. Men were found in greater numbers across all academic ranks, with professors as most conspicuous ( 79.14%), and held most ( 85.54%) leadership positions. The study's prediction model assessed for gender differences in academic rank and leadership roles and found that odds of men having higher h- index as 0.78 ( 95% confidence interval = 0.24- 0.87), indicating that women were not significantly inferior in academic performance. Conclusions: A significantly greater number of men make up physical medicine and rehabilitation faculty in all academic ranks and leadership positions. H- index based on gender and adjusted for covariates is comparable between men and women, suggesting that more complex, multifactorial issues are likely influencing the gender differences.