The# MeToo movement has taken on sexual harassment in the workplace and served to inform the world that these unacceptable and illegal acts have become commonplace, including in academic settings (1). Through this platform, women are empowering each other to fight back against egregious behaviors that have infiltrated the workplace for decades. However, there are more subtle ways in which women can be demeaned in the workplace (1). Historically, women have been excluded from leadership positions in academic medicine. Importantly, while it is clear that gender-based and racial disparities are pervasive, concrete solutions to rectify these disparities are emerging and should be enacted broadly throughout academia. Women continue to be underrepresented in academic venues, particularly in leadership positions at universities, as speakers at national and international meetings, on foundation and review boards that distribute grant funding, and on editorial boards of journals (1). To shed more light on this issue, women on the JCI editorial board with support from our editor-in-chief, Rexford Ahima and the entire editorial board, got together to briefly outline the scope of the problem within this arena. Our objective was to track progress in this area, highlight strategies that have successfully increased female and minority representation within academic settings, and thereby illuminate approaches that will ultimately narrow this gap in academic medicine, including among top tier journals like the JCI.

The percentage of women medical students has been steadily increasing with slightly more (52%) women enrolled in US medical schools in 2018 (2). In fact, the 2019 medical student class at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is predominantly female at 58%. However, only 1/3 of the current MD/PhD students in the Medical Student Training Program are women. Similarly, the proportion of women faculty at US medical schools is increasing, with an estimated 42% in 2018 (3). Nonetheless, women remain underrepresented at the highest leadership positions. In 2006, women comprised 12% of medical school deans, 11% of department chairs, and 21% of division directors. By 2013, women made up 16% of medical