A Rapid Scoping Review of Gender Inequities in the Medical Profession (original) (raw)
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Time to address gender inequalities against female physicians
The International journal of health planning and management, 2017
Although the health care system depends heavily on female physicians, it discriminates against women and tends to concentrate female physicians' work in lower status occupations. Gender discrimination has structural, social, and cultural dimensions. Such discrimination is perceived differently by various stakeholders and the public. In addition, there is reluctance to publicly acknowledge gender discrimination, especially in the culturally conservative Middle East region. Gender discrimination leads to underrepresentation of female physicians in leadership roles and certain specialties and hence leads to less attention and understanding of the working conditions of female physicians and their roles in the health care system. The lack of accessible data in the region regarding gender discrimination among physicians leads to stakeholders failing to recognize the existence and magnitude of this type of discrimination. This article takes up the relatively neglected issue of gender d...
Gaceta Sanitaria, 2014
Aim: To analyze women's advancement compared with that of men and to determine whether advancement in hierarchical status differs from advancement in the professional recognition achieved by women from 1996 to 2008. Methods: A retrospective study was carried in Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. We analyzed data on temporary and permanent positions, hierarchy, promotions, specialty, age, and sex among the participants. Results: The female-to male ratio among trainee medical specialists was higher than 1 throughout the study period. After completion of specialist training, the proportion of women with temporary contracts more than doubled that of men. Less than 50% of women achieved permanent positions compared with 70% of men. For permanent non-hierarchical and hierarchical positions, the female-to-male ratio gradually decreased from 0.5 to below 0.2. Although more than 50% of trainee specialists were women, the number of female consultants remained 25% lower than that of men. In 2008, the final year of the study, the percentage of women who had achieved the grade of senior consultant was one-third that of men (29.5% of men vs 10.9% of women; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The significant differences in medical positions held by men and women illustrate the 'leaky pipeline phenomenon', consisting of a disproportionately low number of women achieving leading medical positions. The full potential of the increasing number of women physicians will not be reached without continuing efforts to improve the hospital medicine environment.
Women in medicine: Sexism is not only reason for women's “unequal status” in the workplace
BMJ, 2004
Women in medicine Doctors of both sexes are seeking balance between life and work Editor-The Medical Women's Federation supports Heath's statement in her editorial that all occupations should seek to mirror the demography of society. 1 Child care support at levels found in Scandinavian countries would greatly support women in medicine to achieve their potential. How-Details of the other 40 signatories and all competing interests are available on bmj.com, as are references w1-7.
GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN MEDICINE
Women physicians continue to achieve tremendous advancements in medicine, both professionally and personally, from the boardroom to the front lines of the COVID-19 response. Women continue to be on an uneven playing field with their male coworkers because of persistent and serious inequities. Women doctors are sometimes paid less for doing the same work and having the same duties as men, even when the female doctor has experience that is comparable to or greater. In both academics and organized medicine, there are fewer female leaders. Women are far too frequently denied tenure at prestigious academic institutions. They receive significantly fewer bylines in scholarly publications, and they frequently experience implicit or overt bias, which prevents them from rising in their careers at the same rate as males. We must take advantage of the chance it presents to assess how far we have come toward gender equality in medicine and how painfully far away that goal still is.
Striving for Gender Equity in Academic Medicine Careers
Academic Medicine, 2016
Women represent approximately half of students entering medical schools and more than half of those entering PhD programs. When advancing through the academic and professional fields, however, women continually face barriers that men do not. In this Commentary, the authors offer ideas for coordinating the efforts of organizations, academic institutions, and leaders throughout the scientific and medical professions to reduce barriers that result in inequities and, instead, strive for gender parity. Specific areas of focus outlined by the authors include facilitating women's access to formal and informal professional networks, acknowledging and addressing the gender pay gap as well as the lack of research funding awarded to women in the field, and updating workplace policies that have not evolved to accommodate women's lifestyles. As academic institutions seek access to top talent and the means to develop those individuals capable of generating the change medicine and science needs, the authors urge leaders and change agents within academic medicine to address the systemic barriers to gender equity that impede us from achieving the mission to improve the health of all.
Working toward gender diversity and inclusion in medicine: myths and solutions
The Lancet, 2019
Women's representation in science and medicine has slowly increased over the past few decades. However, this rise in numbers of women, or gender diversity, has not been matched by a rise in gender inclusion. Despite increasing representation, women still encounter bias and discrimination when compared with men in these fields across a variety of outcomes, including treatment at school and work, hiring, compensation, evaluation, and promotion. Individual and systemic biases create unwelcome environments for women, particularly for those who additionally identify with other traditionally devalued groups (eg, women of colour). This Review draws on several decades of research in the field of management and its cognate disciplines to identify five myths that continue to perpetuate gender bias and five strategies for improving not only the number of women in medicine, but also their lived experiences, capacity to aspire, and opportunity to succeed. We argue for a move away from a singular focus on interventions aimed at targeting individual attitudes and behaviour to more comprehensive interventions that address structural and systemic changes.
Striving for Gender Equity in Academic Medicine Careers: A Call to Action
Academic Medicine, 2016
Women represent approximately half of students entering medical schools and more than half of those entering PhD programs. When advancing through the academic and professional fields, however, women continually face barriers that men do not. In this Commentary, the authors offer ideas for coordinating the efforts of organizations, academic institutions, and leaders throughout the scientific and medical professions to reduce barriers that result in inequities and, instead, strive for gender parity. Specific areas of focus outlined by the authors include facilitating women’s access to formal and informal professional networks, acknowledging and addressing the gender pay gap as well as the lack of research funding awarded to women in the field, and updating workplace policies that have not evolved to accommodate women’s lifestyles. As academic institutions seek access to top talent and the means to develop those individuals capable of generating the change medicine and science needs, t...