Gender representation of speakers at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine postgraduate courses: a 20-year review

Background The percentage of female physicians has grown significantly in past decades, with women currently making up 56% of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's board-certified membership.Study Design We performed a retrospective observational study examining annual meetings of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in 1999, 2009, and 2015-2019. Invited speakers were identified through publicly available programs and examined by gender, degree, and the session of involvement. Postgraduate lectures (including courses, workshops, and forums), panels, and debates were examined. Speakers with Medicinae Doctor (or equivalent) degrees and obstetrics and gynecology training were included.Results Among the 3 time points 1999, 2009, and 2019, there were 330 speaker slots. There was a significant difference in gender representation in the 3 time points; female representation was 25% in 1999, 21.5% in 2009, and 55.7% in 2019 (PConclusion There was a significant increase in the percentage of speaker slots allocated to females over the past 2 decades, a trend that moves toward reflecting the gender composition of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine membership.