TORONTO, October 3, 2018 - A commentary in The New England Journal of Medicine states that men in academic medicine are using the #MeToo movement to justify avoiding mentorship of women, depriving the women of key opportunities to advance their careers.

The six authors of “Men’s Fear of Mentoring in the Era of #MeToo: What’s at Stake for Academic Medicine” state that there is a persistent gender gap in academic medical leadership roles. Gender parity for enrollment in US and Canadian medical schools has existed for decades, yet women account for only 16 per cent of medical school deans and 15 per cent of department chairs.

“Why are we not seeing more representation of women in leadership positions?” said lead author Dr. Sophie Soklaridis, Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). “There has to be something going on that is making academic medicine a chilling climate for women.”

The authors state that when women started to outnumber men in Canadian medical schools, some leaders in the field raised concerns about the “feminization of medicine,” even proposing that affirmative action initiatives for men might be required to close that gender gap in enrolment.

Of particular concern to the authors is a lack of mentoring opportunities for women in academic medicine relative to men, in part because men claim that they fear false allegations of sexual misconduct.