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Mind the Gender Gap: A Decade-long Examination of Gender Disparities in Session and Speaker Roles at Hand Surgery Conferences
Chloe C Krasnoff, MD; Brynn A Hathaway, MD; Ellie A Moeller, MD; Peter C Ferrin, MD
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
Introduction – Gender equity has yet to be realized in hand surgery despite recent increases in female representation among surgical subspecialities. This study evaluates female representation as speakers over a 10-year period at a major hand surgery conference. We hypothesize that female speakers will be disproportionately underrepresented in all types of session categories and speaker roles (chair versus faculty). Methods – Data from the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS) annual conference between 2014 and 2024 was collected (excluding 2021 due to virtual nature). Data regarding speaker gender was extracted from meeting programs and verified via internet search. Each session was additionally categorized (keynote, skills course, non-technical session, panel, review course, scientific abstract session, and symposium/course). Descriptive statistics were performed via Microsoft Excel. Results – Over the 10-year study period, 3094 speaking roles were identified, of which 845 were women (27.3%). When analyzing speaker role, women made up 18.8% of chair positions and 32.3% of faculty positions. When analyzing session type, women speakers made up the minority in all sessions, including keynotes (20.4%), skills courses (24.6%), non-technical sessions (38.4%), panels (29.4%), review courses (18.5%), abstract sessions (21.2%), and symposia (28.8%). This discrepancy held true for both female representation in chair and faculty roles for each session type. Additionally, the rates of female chairs and faculty were both lowest in review courses and skills courses and both highest in non-technical topics and symposia. Lastly, 30.15% of all sessions were male-only speakers compared to 5.51% with female only speakers. Conclusion – Women continue to be significantly underrepresented across all speaking roles at hand surgery conferences, and efforts to bridge this gender gap have shown minimal advancement over the past decade. Female representation remained a minority across all categories analyzed, including overall speaking roles, leadership roles, and instructor roles. This trend persisted across different session topics, with non-technical sessions (examples including social media, wellness, and practice management) showing the highest rates of female speakers, indicating an ongoing bias toward male speakers in "expert” categories compared to women. Despite existing initiatives encouraging women to pursue careers in hand surgery, the field must prioritize achieving gender parity, particularly in female representation at national conferences. 
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