742 - Gender Communication Differences on a Pediatric Provider ListServ

Monday, May 1, 2023

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET

Poster Number: 742
Publication Number: 742.414

Jessica M. Allan, Palo Alto Medical Foundation/ Stanford Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, CA, United States; Erik Black, University of Florida College of Nursing, Gainesville, FL, United States; Nina Lemieux, Dell Medical School, Austin, TX, United States; Courtney A. Gilliam, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Jeremy Yardley, Hasbro Children's Hospital at Rhode Island Hospital, Orono, ME, United States; Juliann Kim, Stanford University School of Medicine, Los Altos, CA, United States; Jorge F. Ganem, PeaceHealth, Eugene, OR, United States; Nicole Paradise Black, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, United States; Alan Schroeder, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States; Shawn Ralston, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States; H. Barrett Fromme, University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Jessica M. Allan, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Hospitalist, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor
Palo Alto Medical Foundation/ Stanford Children's Hospital
Palo Alto, California, United States

Background: Gender differences have been described in educational online communities, but little is known about medical-based listservs. As medical professionals increasingly communicate online, it is important to understand gender differences in communication, which may impact name recognition and career development.

Objective: To describe gender differences in language used, post frequency, and post content on a pediatric hospital medicine listserv.

Design/Methods: We reviewed eight months of posts, one month from each quarter of 2020 and 2021, from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Hospital Medicine (SOHM) listserv. The listserv has 4,133 providers, with an unknown gender breakdown, though the Section is 70% women. Using an existing framework, five language styles were defined including adversarial, attenuation, authoritative, supportive, and self-amplifying. Six reviewers were trained to assign language styles with an intraclass coefficient (3,1) = 0.73 (”good”) and blinded to the author’s name, gender, and date of post. Three separate reviewers assigned gender, and two reviewers assigned a post topic (clinical, research, etc.) and format (question vs statement) to all de-identified original posts (Kappa=1.0 topic and 0.89 format).

Results: 1590 posts were reviewed including 285 original posts and 1305 response posts. Language style: There were significant differences in language themes by gender (p = < .001) with men’s posts more likely coded as adversarial, authoritative, or self-amplifying. There were no gender differences in rates of attenuative or supportive posts (Table 1). Frequency: Women authored 50% of all posts. The nine most frequent posters (seven men, two women) accounted for 19.5% of posts. Content: Men’s posts had more words than women’s posts (132.51 and 112.3 respectively, p = < 0.01). There were no significant associations between gender and post topic (p = .48) (Figure 1). Men were more likely to post statements than women (39% vs 21%, p< .001).

Conclusion(s): In this sample from the AAP SOHM listserv, 50% of posts were authored by women. If the listserv population mirrors the gender representation in the field (70% women), women’s voices may be under-represented on this professional platform. Additionally, we noted significant gender differences in language style and content, which may impact professional reputation and career development. Further research is needed to understand any potential online structures or practices contributing to these gender differences to ensure professional online platforms do not promote gender inequity and remain accessible to all members.
PAS Listserv Table 1 JPEG.jpeg

PAS Listserv Figure 1.jpeg