{"doi":"10.1002/jhm.70131","title":"Addressing gender disparities in academic hospital medicine: The role of micro‐recognitions","abstract":"Diverse workforce and leadership teams in medicine are essential for achieving better patient care outcomes.1, 2 Previous research has shown that women physicians achieve lower mortality and readmission rates in their patients compared to their men peers.3 Other studies demonstrated that women adhere more to guidelines, provide better preventative care, offer more psychosocial counseling, spend more time with patients, and engage in greater patient-centered communication.3 Despite achieving gender parity in medical school matriculation for over two decades, significant gender disparities persist in academic medicine. For academic hospital medicine, while there are equal numbers of men and women faculty, more men are division leaders.4 Gender disparities in academic rank across medical specialties are increasing, suggesting that structural challenges in faculty recruitment, retention, and promotion remain unaddressed.5 Prior efforts to mitigate these disparities, such as improving transparency, tracking gender-specific data, enhancing mentorship, and promoting anti-sexism training, have made some headway. However, further innovations are necessary. We advocate for adding a new approach: the identification, creation, and evaluation of “micro-recognitions.” Gender disparities in academic hospital medicine are often rooted in both macro- and micro-inequities. Macro-inequities, such as biased promotion systems, often reflect broader structural inequalities. To address these, large-scale interventions like redistributing resources and holding leaders accountable for gender disparities are required. However, micro-inequities—subtle, often unintentional actions like overlooking women's titles or failing to acknowledge their contributions—also play a significant role in perpetuating gender bias.6 Addressing these micro-inequities can be challenging, but one method is improving micro-affirmations. Micro-affirmations, small acts that convey respect and dignity, have been identified as essential for combating micro-inequities.5 These subtle gestures may improve the sense of belonging and value for underrepresented individuals. For academic hospital medicine, micro-recognition, a specific form of micro-affirmation, may be effective due to the emphasis put on recognition in academia. The business world already invests in micro-recognitions, due to evidence that improving micro-recognitions improves employee retention and productivity.7 Although macro-recognitions (e.g., promotions, tenure, grants) are essential for academic advancement, micro-recognitions—small, informal acts that acknowledge faculty members’ work—may be equally important in building recognition and fostering an inclusive culture. Here we propose a framework for increasing gender equity in academic hospital medicine through the enhancement of “micro-recognitions”. The aim is to provide consistent, equitable recognition for the contributions of women, helping to address disparities in their career progression. For faculty members to be promoted or receive tenure, they must demonstrate regional, national, or international recognition of their expertise. Macro-recognitions, such as prestigious publications, speaking engagements, and grant funding, are typically listed on a curriculum vitae (CV) and serve as formal indicators of a faculty member's accomplishments. However, promotion is also influenced by subjective factors, including the degree to which an individual's work is recognized and discussed within the academic community.8 Micro-recognitions, while not always documented in a CV, can contribute significantly to a faculty member's reputation and career trajectory. For example, informal recognition through ad hoc emails acknowledging a colleague's publication or contributions can reinforce a sense of value, thus bolstering the individual's self-efficacy. These small, everyday acts of recognition may play a crucial role in shaping faculty members’ perceptions of their pro","journal":"Journal of Hospital Medicine","year":2025,"id":570166,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9564,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":395900,"name":"Beth K Thielen","orcid":"0000-0001-5922-0241","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":328083,"name":"Jessica Hane","orcid":"0000-0002-1957-6128","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":891310,"name":"Caitlin Bakker","orcid":"0000-0003-4154-8382","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":392775,"name":"Katelyn Tessier","orcid":"0000-0002-5513-583X","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":390271,"name":"Sophia P. Gladding","orcid":"0000-0001-6461-9863","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":291929,"name":"Elizabeth A. Rogers","orcid":"0000-0002-4819-7178","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":848259,"name":"Michael B. Pitt","orcid":"0000-0002-7123-2613","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":390273,"name":"Taj Mustapha","orcid":"0000-0002-2663-1770","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1354158,"name":"K. Krohn","orcid":"0000-0001-6116-7128","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":20,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:57:07.857542Z","pmid":"40653639","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}