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McGowan E1, Stokes E1
1Trinity College Dublin, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Dublin, Ireland
Background: Despite some progress in recent years, leadership in healthcare is still dominated by men. While women make up the majority of the health care workforce, the gender percentages of leadership positions remain skewed towards men and many health organisations neglect the issue of gender equality in their leadership. Given the high percentage of women working in clinical and frontline roles in healthcare, failing to ensure a fair representation of women in leadership roles may contribute to cultural and ideological divides between those in clinical and leadership roles.
Purpose: The objectives of this study were:
Methods: A focus group was conducted with a purposive sample of 7 students from a range of undergraduate and postgraduate health sciences courses (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy and dentistry). The focus group data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. A qualitative descriptive approach to the analysis was taken.
Results: Four major themes were found in the analysis of the data: leader attributes, gender differences, leadership barriers and leadership facilitators. Differences in family responsibilities, maternity/paternity leave and stereotypes were noted between genders. The participants identified three main categories of barriers to women attaining leadership positions in the health system: intrinsic, societal and structural. Intrinsic barriers included women's perceptions of other women and a reluctance to lead, societal barriers included stereotypes and conscious/unconscious bias, and structural barriers included family responsibilities, finances and male-dominated environments. Modelling, family experiences, leadership training and gender quotas were discussed as potential facilitators of female leadership.
Conclusion(s): The views and experiences expressed by the participants in this study demonstrate how even at this early stage of their careers, these female students are very aware of the potential challenges facing female leaders in healthcare. The participants also demonstrated knowledge of potential strategies to assist female healthcare professionals to attain leadership positions. However, despite perceiving leadership development as beneficial to demonstrating effective leadership, to date, the participants had completed very little formal leadership training. Health sciences students should be given the opportunity to participate in leadership development training during their entry-to-practice degree courses.
Implications: Many strategies have been suggested to improve gender equality in healthcare. However, no one approach will be a panacea and various initiatives will need to be combined and adapted to meet the specific needs of a specific organisation. It is through a collective approach including a range of interventions that a cultural change can be promoted to support gender diversity in top roles. Leadership development programmes that incorporate gender diversity issues should be introduced during entry-to-practice degree courses to address issues of implicit bias, encourage a leadership mentality, highlight leadership opportunities and ultimately try to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in the healthcare sector.
Keywords: Leadership, Gender equality, Leadership development
Funding acknowledgements: Supported by the Trinity College Dublin Equality Fund.
Purpose: The objectives of this study were:
- To explore female health sciences students´ perceptions of leadership in healthcare.
- To investigate female health sciences students´ perceptions of the barriers and facilitators of female health professionals demonstrating leadership.
- To inform the development of leadership development programmes that will promote gender equality for health sciences students.
Methods: A focus group was conducted with a purposive sample of 7 students from a range of undergraduate and postgraduate health sciences courses (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy and dentistry). The focus group data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. A qualitative descriptive approach to the analysis was taken.
Results: Four major themes were found in the analysis of the data: leader attributes, gender differences, leadership barriers and leadership facilitators. Differences in family responsibilities, maternity/paternity leave and stereotypes were noted between genders. The participants identified three main categories of barriers to women attaining leadership positions in the health system: intrinsic, societal and structural. Intrinsic barriers included women's perceptions of other women and a reluctance to lead, societal barriers included stereotypes and conscious/unconscious bias, and structural barriers included family responsibilities, finances and male-dominated environments. Modelling, family experiences, leadership training and gender quotas were discussed as potential facilitators of female leadership.
Conclusion(s): The views and experiences expressed by the participants in this study demonstrate how even at this early stage of their careers, these female students are very aware of the potential challenges facing female leaders in healthcare. The participants also demonstrated knowledge of potential strategies to assist female healthcare professionals to attain leadership positions. However, despite perceiving leadership development as beneficial to demonstrating effective leadership, to date, the participants had completed very little formal leadership training. Health sciences students should be given the opportunity to participate in leadership development training during their entry-to-practice degree courses.
Implications: Many strategies have been suggested to improve gender equality in healthcare. However, no one approach will be a panacea and various initiatives will need to be combined and adapted to meet the specific needs of a specific organisation. It is through a collective approach including a range of interventions that a cultural change can be promoted to support gender diversity in top roles. Leadership development programmes that incorporate gender diversity issues should be introduced during entry-to-practice degree courses to address issues of implicit bias, encourage a leadership mentality, highlight leadership opportunities and ultimately try to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in the healthcare sector.
Keywords: Leadership, Gender equality, Leadership development
Funding acknowledgements: Supported by the Trinity College Dublin Equality Fund.
Topic: Professional issues
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Trinity College Dublin
Ethics committee: School of Medicine Research Ethics Committee
Ethics number: 20171113
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
