Umeå universitets logga

Worldwide, less than 30% of the workforce in research and development are women (1). Within the field of healthcare, however, female representation (74%) has made substantial gains (2). This is in line with data (2021) from the European Respiratory Society (ERS), showing a higher number of female members (69%) in comparison to male members within the "Allied Respiratory Professionals" Assembly, including amongst others lung function technologist, physiotherapists, nurses and psychologists. This is also visible in the Assembly's early career member category (less than 40 years of age), where women (68%) are also more represented. This increasing representativeness of the female gender is also seen in leadership roles, as five out of 10 (50%) most influenceable researchers (based on the number of publications in the last decade) in the field of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) are female (3). The current topic on “Women in Science: Pulmonary Rehabilitation” celebrates the increasing representativeness and leadership of females in this research area. It intends to provide a stage for researchers who identify as a woman to present their research within the field of PR. In this topic collection, published research is clustered in two areas that can be considered hot topics in the latest years, namely regarding the settings where PR can be delivered and its role in the treatment of symptoms and extrapulmonary features.