Leadership diversity in prosthodontics: The number and percentage of women speakers at recent annual scientific meetings of prosthodontic organizations

Statement of problem: Leadership platforms in the professions include invitations to speak at major organization meetings. However, speaker profiles from underrepresented groups at annual scientific meetings of prosthodontic organizations have not been reported. Purpose: The purpose of this observational study was to determine the percentage of women invited to speak at selected prosthodontic organization meetings. Material and methods: The number of men and women speakers at the 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 annual meetings of the Academy of Prosthodontics, American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics, American College of Prosthodontics, American Prosthodontic Society, Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics, and Pacific Coast Society for Prosthodontics were recorded. The chi-square test was used to determine differences in the percentage of women speakers over time and between organizations. Results: A total of 781 speakers in the years 2009 and 2014 to 2018 from the scientific meetings of the 6 prosthodontic organizations reviewed met the inclusion criteria. Of the 781 speakers, 693 (88.7%) were men and 88 (11.3%) were women. No significant differences were noted between organizations nor did the number of women speakers change significantly over time. Conclusions: The number of women speakers at scientific meetings is lower than that of women prosthodontists and has not changed significantly over the past decade.