Trends in Gender Representation at the AAO Annual Meeting

From 2018 to 2021, there has been a steady overall increase in the proportion of female presenters at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Annual Meeting. In 1969, women comprised approximately 4% of ophthalmologists; by comparison, in 2021, women comprised approximately 25% to 30% of the ophthalmology workforce.1,2 Although there has been an increase in the proportion of female ophthalmologists, this proportion remains less than the proportion of female physicians across all medical specialties.