Gender Equity in the Coordination and Funding of Research in Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine

OBJECTIVE: To analyse gender equity in research funding and project coordination among researchers in Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine (OP/OM) in Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analysed publicly available data from members of the Brazilian Society of Stomatology and Oral Pathology. Curricula were accessed via the Lattes Platform. Researchers with < 5 years post-PhD or no registered research projects were excluded, resulting in a final sample of 133 researchers. Extracted variables included gender, scientific production, number of projects, funded projects, collaborative roles and project coordination. RESULTS: Women comprised 55.6% of the sample. Male researchers had significantly higher mean total career publications (158.80 vs. 99.59; p = 0.008) and more publications in Journal Citation Reports-indexed journals (74.08 vs. 46.95; p = 0.005). However, no significant gender differences were found in mean number of research projects developed (22.15 vs. 21.37; p = 0.601), funded projects (5.69 vs. 7.08; p = 0.714), projects coordinated (13.46 vs. 14.66; p = 0.996), or collaborative participations (8.69 vs. 6.71; p = 0.265). CONCLUSION: Despite women constituting most researchers in Brazilian OP/OM, significant gender disparities persist in scientific output metrics. Conversely, access to research funding and project leadership opportunities appears equitable, highlighting the need to address barriers affecting women's publication rates.