Relationships between women in leadership at predoctoral and senior administration levels in United States dental schools.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the relationship between woman leadership at senior administrative and predoctoral levels in United States (US) dental schools and assess if this relationship is affected by school characteristics.

Methods: A 23-question survey was created and distributed to each US accredited dental school (2023). Data regarding the gender of the school's dean, senior administrators, and student leaders, as well as school characteristics were gathered. Data were organized in Excel. Descriptive statistics were performed using mean and standard deviation for continuous measures and using count and percent for categorial measures. Statistical comparisons were performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Fisher's Exact, or Chi-squared tests for comparison of proportions.

Results: 32 dental schools provided analyzable data for this project (44.4% response rate). The most common senior administrative position held by a woman was the dean of student affairs (71.9%). For every surveyed school with a woman dean (n = 11, 34.4%), at least one other senior administrative position was held by a woman. There was no statistical significance between the year of school establishment, geographic region, gender of the dean, or prevalence of women administrators and students in leadership roles. The number of women students in leadership roles was close to the national enrollment trends for gender.

Conclusions: Included US dental school data showed no relationship between women in leadership at the senior administrative and predoctoral levels. To keep leadership-minded students interested in dental academics throughout their careers, further studies are needed to identify the most important factors influencing careers in academic dentistry.