The Gender Award Gap in German medical societies 2000–2023: the Fritz-Külz-Award as an example

Science prizes contribute to the visibility of researchers within and outside the medical community. Our article contains a descriptive analysis of the prize development in German medical societies since the turn of the millennium, focussing on the development of gender differences and discussing the findings with regard to necessary structural changes and the general significance of prizes in medicine. The study is based on data from all documented prizes and honours awarded by the 183 German medical societies currently organised in the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF, Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften) in the period 2000–2023, including the Fritz-Külz-Award in pharmacology. For the first time, our study enables a differentiated overall view of the diverse prize culture in German medical societies, with 1213 awards (including 201 scholarships). The results show that the gender award gap found in international studies, particularly for prestigious awards, has continuously narrowed in the awarding practice of German medical societies since 2000. However, a gender-specific imbalance is still recognisable, particularly in the case of prestigious honorary prizes and more highly endowed research prizes. Differences between the specialist societies, depending on the speciality, the respective proportion of female specialists and the proportion of female scientists among the members must be investigated in further detailed studies. The specialist societies are therefore called upon to make their nomination and application practices even more transparent in order to better recognise potential disadvantages.