Cross-sectional Study on Sex Disparities among Japanese and Korean University School of Pharmacy Professors

Japan and South Korea are ranked low in the Gender Gap Index, and the ratio of female faculty members at universities is low. The ratio of female professors at universities is assumed to be lower than the ratio of female medical professionals; however, the details remain unknown. Consequently, this study aimed to examine sex disparity among professors in the pharmacy departments of universities in Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, the characteristics of Japanese and South Korean pharmacy departments were examined to explore the differences and sex disparity. This study was conducted based on publicly available information from the websites of each universitys pharmacy department as of November 1, 2023. Sex was determined from first names or photographs. This study was conducted following the STROBE guidelines, and no ethical review or consent was required. This study included 73 universities in Japan and 35 universities in South Korea. The proportion of female professors in university pharmacy departments was 12.5% in Japan and 32.9% in South Korea. A total of 1,965 pharmacy professors were identified in Japan and South Korea. Of these, 1,527 were from Japan and 438 were from South Korea. The estimated ratio of professors to million individuals in Japan was 12.28, compared to 8.51 in South Korea. This indicated that Japan had approximately 1.4 times as many professors as South Korea after correction for population. The proportion of female professors in both countries was <50%. Japan had significantly fewer female professors than South Korea, suggesting that womens advancement in university pharmacy departments was lagging in Japan. Additionally, South Koreas higher number of female professors specializing in clinical research may suggest that women with clinical practice experience in hospitals or pharmacies were becoming university professors.