Gender gap and Indian Academy of Pediatrics: still a long way to go!

We conducted this study to document the female participation in the administrative and academic affairs of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP). Of 45 IAP Presidents till date, 7 (15.6%) were women. Females comprised 6% (2/31), 8.8% (3/31), 5.4% (2/37), and 2.3% (1/44) of IAP executive board members in 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005, respectively. Only once (out of 10), a woman was appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of Indian Pediatrics; of 4 Editor-in-chiefs of IJPP till date, none was a female. Of 181 heads of the department of Pediatrics at different medical colleges, 58 (32%) are women. Overall female authorship in articles published in Indian Pediatrics has increased from 23.1% (133/576) in 1990 to 43% (154/358) in 2005 (P < 0.001). We conclude that there is a definite increase in the female participation in academic matters of IAP; however, the gender gap is persisting in the administrative domain.