Clinical research studyResearch Leadership and Investigators: Gender Distribution in the Federal Government
Section snippets
Overview
Publicly available sources were used to identify individuals, categorize gender, and describe associated studies and publications (data collected September through November 2011). The study was exempt from human subject oversight and approved by the Hines VA Research and Development (R&D) Committee.
Research Leadership
Subjects included were those identified through links provided on the VA Office of R&D-associated websites,7 guided by the organizational chart. “Acting,” “interim,” “deputy,” and “co-director” were
Federal Government Research Leadership
Persons in the first and second levels were examined (using linked biographies to code gender for the NIH and AHRQ). Women comprised 3 of 9 (33%) top positions in the AHRQ, 6 of 22 (27%) in the NIH, and 0 of 3 (0%) in the VA. The remainder of the analysis focuses on the VA.
VA Positions
For the 3 men in the VA R&D top leadership positions enumerated above, the first level is the Chief R&D Officer (n = 1). Figure 1, bar 1 shows the second level of Research Service Director, with 2 (of 4) directors (ie,
Discussion
The representation of women at the highest levels in the NIH and AHRQ was low relative to professional positions overall in government (ie, 27%-33% vs 44%9), yet was higher than in the VA (0%). At lower levels in the VA, representation among center directors depended on the service. Participation was substantial in HSR&D, nonexistent in RR&D, and intermediate in the CSP. Leadership at local VAs was predominantly male.
Only HSR&D and CSP had publicly available information on principal
Acknowledgment
We thank Kathryn L. Reed, MD (University of Arizona) for helpful suggestions.
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Funding: The study was supported by resources of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration. The contents of this article do not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the US government.
Conflict of Interest: None.
Authorship: Both authors had access to the data and a role in writing the manuscript.