Gender equity in oncology – are we nearer to close the gender gap?

The annual appointment with the ESMO Women for Oncology Forum is back to be a live event – at ESMO Congress 2022, Paris, 9-13 September - where challenges and opportunities to close the gender gap in oncology will be discussed by a panel of oncology professionals, including ESMO President-elect Andrés Cervantes, ESMO Women for Oncology Committee Chair Pilar Garrido, Helena Linardou and Elene Mariamidze, aiming to raise awareness on gender imbalance in leadership positions.

In 2021, data from the ESMO Women for Oncology monitoring and authorship studies revealed that modest progress was made in recent years, with women continuing to be underrepresented in leadership positions despite making up an increasing proportion of the oncology workforce. Progress appeared to be stalling, with numbers having reached a plateau and the COVID-19 pandemic taking a toll on women’s research productivity.

At this year’s forum, updated data on representation of women in oncology will be presented, leading the discussion on the impact of gender on professional development. The event is open to all ESMO Congress delegates and will be streamed on the Congress virtual platform.