Introduction
The proportion of women in orthopaedic surgery is low compared to other specialties, despite a balance of women and men entering the field of medicine. This gender disparity persists across various aspects of orthopaedic sports medicine. The purpose of this study was to characterize the number of women in leadership positions in orthopaedic sports medicine and arthroscopy societies throughout the world and compare the percentages of women vs men in leadership positions.
Methods
Publicly available websites for orthopaedic sports medicine societies throughout the world were evaluated during March, 2022. Non-surgical sports medicine societies were excluded, as were societies lacking publicly available leadership information. Data were collected as listed on the websites, and categorized into Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Office, Council (all typically included Presidential line, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, or other specific high-ranking members), and Committee Chairs (excluded general committee members).
Results
Of the 46 societies, 16 (34.8%) were in Europe, 10 (21.7%) in Asia, 6 (13.0%) in South America, 5 (10.9%) in North America, 3 in the Middle East (6.5%), 2 in Africa (4.4%), 2 in Australia (4.4%), and 2 were international organizations (4.4%). Four countries had two orthopaedic sports medicine societies: Argentina, Israel, Australia, and Mexico. The Board of Directors were comprised of 2.5% women (4/161), the Executive Committees were 7.1% women (11/154), Committee Chairs were 9.4% women (13/138), Officers were 15.8% women (3/19), Councils were 5.9% women (1/17), and Spokespersons were 16.7% women (1/6). For the Board of Directors, North America and Europe led women representation with 4.0% and 3.8%, South America had 2.0%, and societies from the Middle East and Asia reported no women. For the Executive Committee, North America had the most women by far with 27.8%, and the remaining regions ranged from 0.0-7.9%. For Committee Chairs, both European and International societies had around 8% women in leadership (8.0% and 7.7%, respectively), yet North America had double with 16.7% women. For regions reporting Officers, Asia and Europe had similar percentages (16.7% and 18.2%), whereas Australia reported zero women in office. Only one region reported electing a Council and two regions listed Spokespersons.
Conclusion
This study highlights the gender disparities in leadership positions in orthopaedic sports medicine societies throughout the world. The visibility of women in high-ranking positions may contribute to the interest of women and other minorities in the field of sports medicine and help improve diversity. Future studies should investigate factors contributing to the paucity of women in leadership positions and identify ways to increase the proportion of women in orthopaedic sports medicine.