[Womeninmedicine] Gender differences in question-asking

[Weisz, Ora Anna]

Interesting article- I guess we all need to step up!
Cheers,
Ora

Gender differences in question-asking at the 2019 American Society of
Hematology Annual Meeting
Saira Moazzam,1 Lynn Onstad,1 Heather O'Leary,2 Ariela Marshall,3,4 Ifeyinwa Osunkwo,5 Emily Du,1 Tamara Dunn,6 Julianne Dunlap,1
Bill Reed,7 Selina Luger,8 and Stephanie J. Lee1,9
1Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA; 2Division of Hematology/Oncology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN; 3Division of
Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, and 4Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; 5Department of Medicine and Pediatrics,
Levine Cancer Center and Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC; 6Stanford School of Medicine and Palo Alto VA Health System, Stanford, CA; 7American Society of Hematology,
Washington, DC; 8Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; and 9Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Key Points
* Men asked more questions
than women at
a professional meeting.
* If a woman asked the
first question, women
in the audience were
more likely to ask subsequent
questions.

Attendance at professional conferences is an important component of career development,
because conferences are a major forum for presenting new research, interacting with
colleagues and networking. An extensive literature documents differences in the professional
experiences of women and men, including experiences at professional conferences. We
hypothesized that women are less likely than men to ask questions at conferences, thus
forgoing opportunities for professional development. To address this issue, we analyzed the
question-asking behavior of women and men at the 2019 Annual Meeting and Exposition
of the American Society of Hematology. In all, 112 sessions (55% of those eligible) were
randomly chosen for coding, yielding data on 577 presentations. Although approximately
50% of moderators and speakers were women, the proportion of questions asked by women
was significantly lower compared with the estimated proportion of women attending the
conference (23% vs 39%; P , .0001). Women were more likely to ask questions if another
woman asked the first question or if the session topic was red cells. These results suggest that
although women are represented equally as moderators and speakers, they are less likely to
engage in the postpresentation discourse by asking questions. Encouraging women to speak
up in professional situations and providing training on question-asking skills can help
address this gender gap that potentially contributes to disparities in professional visibility
and career advancement for women in hematology.

_____________________________________________________________________
Ora A. Weisz, PhD | Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology, and Clinical and Translational Science
Vice Chair of Faculty Development, Department of Medicine
Associate Dean for Faculty Development, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Faculty Excellence, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences
Renal-Electrolyte Division | 978.1 Scaife Hall | 3550 Terrace St. | Pittsburgh PA 15261
Tel: 412-383-8891 | Email: weisz at pitt.edu<mailto:weisz at pitt.edu>

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