The Gender Gap in Medical School Faculty Ranks Is Slowly Narrowing

Data from the American Association of Medical Colleges shows that in 2017 there were 70,992 women faculty members at U.S. medical schools. There were 103,126 male faculty members. Thus, women made up 40.7 percent of all medical school faculty. This is up from 39.6 percent in 2016.

The gender gap in medical school faculty widens as we examine data for the highest-ranking faculty at U.S. medical schools. In 2017, there were 9,037 women full professors at U.S. medical schools compared to 28,649 men. Thus, women were 23.9 percent of all full professors. This is up from 22.8 percent in 2016.

There were 12,912 women who held the rank of associate professor. There were 22,080 men who were associate professors at medical schools. Therefore, women were 36.8 percent of all associate professors, up from 35.7 percent in 2016.

Women were 46 percent of all assistant professors and 53.2 percent of all instructors at U.S. medical schools in 2017.