La pandemia silenciosa: subrepresentación de las mujeres en la medicina académica y publicaciones científicas: razones y soluciones
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71164/socialmedicine.v19i2.2026.2135Palabras clave:
equidad de género, mujeres en medicina, medicina académica, brecha de autoría, sesgo de géneroResumen
A pesar de una distribución global de género casi equitativa, las mujeres siguen estando marcadamente subrepresentadas en la medicina académica y en las publicaciones científicas, una inequidad sistémica tan generalizada que constituye una pandemia silenciosa. Si bien las mujeres representan actualmente el 70% del personal del cuidado a la salud, solo ocupan el 15% de las cátedras titulares en medicina y enfrentan brechas persistentes en autoría, citas y roles de liderazgo. Este artículo examina las barreras multifacéticas que impulsan esta disparidad, incluyendo sesgos implícitos en la contratación y en criterios para ascensos, cargas desproporcionadas en el cuidado de personas, entornos laborales hostiles y disparidades de género en la mentoría y la revisión por pares. Los datos revelan que los artículos escritos por mujeres reciben entre 30% y 50% menos de citas y menos del 20% de las y los autores sénior en revistas de alto impacto son mujeres. Estas inequidades comprometen el progreso científico, ya que la diversidad de perspectivas mejora la innovación y los pronósticos para los pacientes. Las soluciones exigen reformas sistémicas: revisión por pares anónima, consejos editoriales con equilibrio de género, políticas laborales flexibles, métricas institucionales de rendición de cuentas y programas de patrocinio específicos. Para abordar esta “pandemia” es necesario tratar la equidad de género como un imperativo de salud pública que fortalezca la medicina para todos.
Citas
World Population Day: What women and girls want matters | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) [Internet]. [cited 2025 Mar 22]. Available from: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/poverty-eradication/events/world-population-day-what-women-and-girls-want-matters
Penny M, Jeffries R, Grant J, Davies SC. Women and academic medicine: a review of the evidence on female representation. J R Soc Med. 2014 Jul;107(7):259–63.
Santucci C, López-Valcarcel BG, Avendaño-Solá C, Bautista MC, Pino CG, García LL, et al. Gender inequity in the medical profession: the women doctors in Spain (WOMEDS) study. Hum Resour Health. 2023 Sep 20;21(1):77.
Edmunds LD, Ovseiko PV, Shepperd S, Greenhalgh T, Frith P, Roberts NW, et al. Why do women choose or reject careers in academic medicine? A narrative review of empirical evidence. Lancet Lond Engl. 2016 Dec 10;388(10062):2948–58.
Richter KP, Clark L, Wick JA, Cruvinel E, Durham D, Shaw P, et al. Women Physicians and Promotion in Academic Medicine. N Engl J Med. 2020 Nov 25;383(22):2148–57.
Salem V, Hirani D, Lloyd C, Regan L, Peters CJ. Why are women still leaving academic medicine? A qualitative study within a London Medical School. BMJ Open. 2022 Jun 1;12(6):e057847.
Kheir OO, Khair HM, Mapayi B, Patwa YH. Prevalence of sexual harassment among female medical staff in four Khartoum State tertiary hospitals. Pan Afr Med J. 2023 May 15;45:30.
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) (2024) The state of women in academic medicine 2023-2024: progressing toward equity. Available at: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/data/state-women-academic-medicine-2023-2024-progressing-toward-equity.
Salem V, Hirani D, Lloyd C, Regan L, Peters CJ. Why are women still leaving academic medicine? A qualitative study within a London Medical School. BMJ Open. 2022 Jun;12(6):e057847.
Wietsma AC. Barriers to success for female physicians in academic medicine. J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect. 2014;4(3).
Chatterjee P, Werner RM. Gender Disparity in Citations in High-Impact Journal Articles. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Jul 1;4(7):e2114509.
Mirin AA. Gender Disparity in the Funding of Diseases by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. J Womens Health 2002. 2021 Jul;30(7):956–63.
Funding research on women’s health. Nat Rev Bioeng. 2024 Oct;2(10):797–8.
Tsugawa Y, Jena AB, Figueroa JF, Orav EJ, Blumenthal DM, Jha AK. Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Feb 1;177(2):206–13.
Farkas AH, Bonifacino E, Turner R, Tilstra SA, Corbelli JA. Mentorship of Women in Academic Medicine: a Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Jul;34(7):1322–9.
DeFilippis EM, Sinnenberg L, Mahmud N, Wood MJ, Hayes SN, Michos ED, et al. Gender Differences in Publication Authorship During COVID-19: A Bibliometric Analysis of High-Impact Cardiology Journals. J Am Heart Assoc. 2021 Feb;10(5):e019005.
Wu R, Cheng X. Gender Equality in the Workplace: The Effect of Gender Equality on Productivity Growth Among the Chilean Manufacturers. J Dev Areas. 2016;50(1):257–74.
Trinchese D, Vainieri M, Cantarelli P. Gender diversity and healthcare performance: A quantitative analysis from the Italian health system. Health Policy. 2024 Aug 1;146:105117.
Fridner A, Norell A, Åkesson G, Gustafsson Sendén M, Tevik Løvseth L, Schenck-Gustafsson K. Possible reasons why female physicians publish fewer scientific articles than male physicians – a cross-sectional study. BMC Med Educ. 2015 Apr 2;15(1):67.
Nonnemaker L. Women Physicians in Academic Medicine — New Insights from Cohort Studies. N Engl J Med. 2000 Feb 10;342(6):399–405.
Burke E, Heron EA, Hennessy M. Gender bias in academic medicine: a resumé study. BMC Med Educ. 2023 May 1;23:291.
House A, Dracup N, Burkinshaw P, Ward V, Bryant LD. Mentoring as an intervention to promote gender equality in academic medicine: a systematic review. BMJ Open. 2021 Jan 26;11(1):e040355.
Stamm M, Buddeberg-Fischer B. The impact of mentoring during postgraduate training on doctors’ career success. Med Educ. 2011 May;45(5):488–96.
Buddeberg-Fischer B, Stamm M, Buddeberg C, Bauer G, Hämmig O, Knecht M, et al. The impact of gender and parenthood on physicians’ careers - professional and personal situation seven years after graduation. BMC Health Serv Res. 2010 Feb 18;10(1):40.
Jawaid SA. Women physicians, their social issues & Barriers to their success in Academic Medicine. Pak J Med Sci [Internet]. 2022 Sep 15 [cited 2025 Feb 25];38(8). Available from: https://pjms.org.pk/index.php/pjms/article/view/7047
Trusson D, Rowley E. Qualitative study exploring barriers and facilitators to progression for female medical clinical academics: interviews with female associate professors and professors. BMJ Open. 2022 Mar 14;12(3):e056364.
Schueller-Weidekamm C, Kautzky-Willer A. Challenges of work-life balance for women physicians/mothers working in leadership positions. Gend Med. 2012 Aug;9(4):244–50.
Treister-Goltzman Y, Peleg R. Female Physicians and the Work-Family Conflict. Isr Med Assoc J IMAJ. 2016 May;18(5):261–6.
Cedeno R, Bohlen J. Sexual Harassment and Prevention Training. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 [cited 2025 Mar 29]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK587339/
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (Commission). Mapping the maze : getting more women to the top in research [Internet]. Publications Office of the European Union; 2008 [cited 2025 Mar 23]. Available from: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/54910
Fox CW, Paine CET. Gender differences in peer review outcomes and manuscript impact at six journals of ecology and evolution. Ecol Evol. 2019 Mar 4;9(6):3599–619.
Descargas
Publicado
Número
Sección
Licencia
Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0.
