Gender disparities regarding invited speakers in paediatric dentistry congresses: Are we closing the gap?

Aim: The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to evaluate the representation of female scientists as invited speakers at two major paediatric dentistry congresses, the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD) and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), held between 2016 and 2023. A secondary aim was to explore association with lecture topic- or scientist-related characteristics.

Methods: The gender of all invited speakers was identified through electronically searching of scientific programmes and abstract books of the EAPD and the AAPD Congresses held between 2016 and 2023. Variables assessed were year of the congress, the continent of origin of the invited scientist, the type of meeting (congress or interim seminar) and lecture topic.

Results: A total of 462 lectures were included in the assessment and the overall representation of female scientists was 44.2%. Since 2016, yearly representation of female invited speakers exceeded in number that of male only twice, in 2021 (59.4%) and in 2023 (53.7%). For the EAPD, invited female lecturers were 41.1%, while for the AAPD Congress was 46.3%. There was equal representation of female and male speakers in seminars (50% each), although this type of meeting is solely organised by the EAPD. Pain management (62.5%), insurance (54.8%), paediatrics (55.6%) and orthodontics (52.4%) were the only thematic regions where female speakers outnumbered their male counterparts. Univariable and multivariable analyses did not reveal any overall significant association between invited speaker gender and year, congress or continent of authorship (p-value > 0.05 in all cases).

Conclusion: Women' voice representation at major paediatric dentistry congresses was found to improve, however, efforts for further improvement should persist to establish balanced representation.