Trends in the Proportion of Women Speakers at North American Allergy & Immunology Conferences, 2008-2020

Background : Women in medicine continue to be underrepresented at medical conferences. Previous studies have examined the proportion of invited female speakers across multiple specialties and evaluated factors that may have led to this disparity. The field of allergy and immunology has often been excluded and analyses have not demonstrated how the trends have changed over the last decade. Objective : To examine the distribution of invited speakers by gender over time at the three largest North American allergy and immunology conferences. Methods : This retrospective longitudinal analysis used conference programs from 2008 to 2020 from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), and the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI). The gender of invited speakers was analyzed as the primary outcome, and planning committee members and multi-speaker sessions as secondary outcomes. These data were compared to publicly available data on composition of the specialty by gender in the United States and Canada. Results : Women speakers at AAAAI, ACAAI and CSACI conferences have historically been lower than male speakers and underrepresented compared to specialty composition. However, there has been a significant increase in percent female speakers over time for all three conferences individually (AAAAI: 23.7% in 2008, 41.1% by 2020, ACAAI: 16.7% in 2008, 37.3% by 2020, CSACI: 19.4% in 2008, 54.8% by 2020, p<0.001 for each) and combined (21.3% in 2008, 40.7% by 2020, p<0.001). This trend coincides with a significant increase in women on the planning committee (all conferences: 20% in 2008, 50.6% by 2020, p<0.001). There is also a decreasing trend over time for male-only multi-speaker sessions. Conclusion : This study sheds light on the trends of women speaker representation at allergy and immunology conferences and provides clarity on future needs to reach equal representation in this field.