The Ophthalmologist releases its first-ever Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology Power List

New York, U.S.A., March 31, 2021 – Today, The Ophthalmologist releases its Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology Power List. This first-of-its-kind listing seeks to showcase the powerful impact of leading female professionals on ophthalmic clinical practice, research, education, and industry. In the past, The Power List has been dominated by men – women made up only 17 percent of the list in 2020. Following years of underrepresentation, the 2021 Power List aims to redress the balance and highlight the accomplishments of women in the field.

The Ophthalmologist hopes that by shining a light on female leaders in ophthalmology, it is helping to address gender equality in the industry and highlight the challenges that many women face to advance. A recent study of ophthalmologists’ compensation in the first year of clinical practice found that women’s mean salary was $33,139 less than that of their male colleagues*. The authors concluded that such differences can lead to a substantial loss of earnings over the course of a female ophthalmologist’s career. Learn more about these challenges, as well as the reason why the team at The Ophthalmologist remains hopeful for the future of women in ophthalmology, here.

Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 outbreak, the final number of nominations for the 2021 Power List totaled 1,168 and recognized more than 300 individual female leaders. This tally shows the community’s enthusiasm in recognizing these women for their professional accomplishments and dedication to the field. While The Ophthalmologist’s independent judging panel – an experienced global team of professionals working in all major ophthalmic subspecialties – narrowed the roster of finalists, staff email inboxes were flooded with messages championing the all-female Power List. This strong support led the team to expand recognition from 50 to the top 100 women in ophthalmology.

Aleksandra Jones, the Editor of The Ophthalmologist, says, “The Ophthalmologist’s Power List has been published annually since 2014, and every year it is the most eagerly-anticipated feature in our editorial calendar. The feeling I get every time I receive acknowledgments from our Power Listers is indescribable – I am extremely proud to be a part of this process, and delighted to share this year’s list of the Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology.”

The Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology Power List underscores The Ophthalmologist’s corporate and editorial support of programs that help women and underrepresented minorities advance in the field. Some such programs that The Ophthalmologist supports include the Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring (MOM) program and the Diversity in Vision Research and Ophthalmology (DIVRO) summer internship program. Other organizations and societies working on increasing women’s profiles in the field include Women in Ophthalmology and Women in Vision UK.

See The Ophthalmologist’s Power List: Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology here.

^{*Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33248156/. JS Jia et al., “Gender compensation gap for ophthalmologists in the first year of clinical practice,” Ophthalmology, S0161 (2020). PMID: 33248156}