Analysis of the Race, Ethnicity, and Gender of Recipients of Plastic Surgery Foundation Grants
Hilliard Brydges1, Ogechukwu Onuh1, Brooke Barrow1,2, Carter Boyd1, Kshipra Hemal1, Bachar Chaya1, Daniel Ceradini1, Eduardo Rodriguez1
1Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery, NYU Langone Health2Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University
Background: Over the last eighteen years the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) has awarded approximately $755,000 in grants annually. As the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery strives for gender parity and racial equity among academic plastic surgeons, there has been increased recognition of the importance that funding plays in achieving these goals. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the racial, ethnic, and gender makeup of recipients of PSF Grants.
Methods: Grants awarded by the PSF from 2003 through 2021 were analyzed. Data sourced from the PSF grants database included recipient name and year of grant award. The gender and race of recepients was sourced from institution biographies, LinkedIn/social media profiles, and physicians' websites. Using the Dimensions bibliometric database, field citation rate (FCR), relative citation rate (RCR), and average article citations (AAC) were gathered for the year of grant receipt and the preceding year. Univariate analysis was conducted for gender, race, and ethnicity.
Results: A total of 541 grants, awarded to 397 recipients (mean 1.36 grants per recipient, range 1 to 9), were included in the study. One hundred twenty recipients were female (38.5%) and received 153 grants (28.3%); 243 recipients were men (61.2%), receiving 387 grants (71.5%). Most recipients were white (61.2%), followed by East Asian (19.1%) and South Asian/Middle Eastern (14.9%). Univariate analysis demonstrated no statistically significant difference between men and women in mean grants received (1.40 vs. 1.28 p-value 0.052). The mean FCR for both the year of grant receipt (2.07 vs 2.27 p-value = 0.006) and the preceding year (2.08 vs 3.01 p-value < 0.001) was less for men than women. Similarly, the RCR at both the time of receipt (1.06 vs 1.31 p-value = 0.026), and preceding year (0.84 vs 1.16 p-value < 0.001) was less for men than women. Analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between white and non-white recipients in number of grants received, FCR, RCR, or AAC; however, when compared to Hispanic recipients, non-Hispanics received more grants on average (1.37 vs 1.00 p-value = 0.010).
Conclusion: Analysis of the eighteen-year history of PSF grants found most recipients have been non-Hispanic, white, and male, with recipient make-up closely reflecting the general population of academic plastic surgeons. Notably, male recipients were found to be less impactful than their female counterparts around the time of grant receipt as measured by FCR/RCR in the year of receipt and the preceding year.
Back to 2022 Posters