The presence of women in the practice of medicine extends back to ancient times; however, up until the last few decades, women have comprised only a small percentage of medical students. The gradual acceptance of women in male-dominated specialties has increased, but a commitment to improving gender equity in the medical community within leadership positions and in the academic world is still being discussed. Gender Equity in the Medical Profession delivers essential discourse on strategically handling discrimination within medical school, training programs, and consultancy positions in order to eradicate sexism from the workplace. Featuring research on topics such as gender diversity, leadership roles, and imposter syndrome, this book is ideally designed for health professionals, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, hospital directors, board members, activists, instructors, researchers, academicians, and students seeking coverage on strategies that tackle gender equity in medical education.
The role of women in the workplace has rapidly advanced and changed within the previous decade, leading to a current position in which women are taking over leadership roles and being offered these positions more than ever before. However, a gap still exists with the representation of women in the workforce especially in power positions and roles of authority in organizations. While the representation of women in leadership roles is impressive and exciting for the future, women still face many challenges when taking over these positions of power and face many issues related to gender inclusivity. There is also still gender bias and discrimination against women who have been given the opportunity to become authority figures. It is essential to acknowledge and discuss these critical issues and challenges that women in leadership roles must handle to better understand the current climate of gender roles across various industries and types of leadership. The Research Anthology on Challenges for Women in Leadership Roles discusses the role of women in positions of authority across diverse industries and businesses. By reviewing the biases, struggles, discrimination, and overall challenges of being a woman in a powerful role, women leaders can be better understood for their role in a male-dominated world. This includes topics of concern such as equal treatment, proper implementation of women’s policies, social justice activism, discrimination, and sexual harassment in the workplace, and the importance of diversity and empowerment of women in leadership positions with chapters pertaining specifically to African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern women. This book is ideal for professionals, researchers, managers, executives, leaders, academicians, sociologists, policymakers, and students in fields that include humanities, social sciences, women’s studies, gender studies, business management, management science, health sciences, educational studies, and political sciences.
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Women now represent over half of medical school matriculants, almost half of residents and fellows, and over a third of practicing physicians nationally. Despite considerable representation among the physician workforce, women are paid 75 cents on the dollar compared with their male counterparts after accounting for specialty, geography, time in practice, and average hours per week worked. This pay gap is significantly greater than the one reported for US women workers as a whole and has shown little improvement over time. While much has been written about the problem, a robust discussion about how to rectify the situation has been missing from the conversation. Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine is the first comprehensive assessment of how cultural expectations and compensation methodologies in medicine work together to perpetuate salary disparities between men and women physicians. Since the gender gap reflects a convergence of forces within our healthcare enterprises, achieving pay equity can be an overwhelming undertaking for institutions and their leaders. However, compensation is foremost a business endeavor. Therefore, a roadmap for operationalizing equity within the finance, human resources, and compliance structures of our organizations is critical to eliminating disparities. The roadmap described in this book breaks down the component parts of compensation methodology to reveal their unintentional impact on salary equity and lays out processes and procedures that support new approaches to generate fair and equitable outcomes. Additionally, the roadmap is anchored in change management principles that address institutional culture and provide momentum toward salary equity. The book begins with a review of the evidence on the gender pay gap in medicine. The following chapter discusses how gender-based differences in performance assessments, specialty choice, domestic responsibilities, negotiation, professional resources, sponsorship, and clinical productivity accumulate across women’s careers in medicine and impact evaluation, promotion, and therefore compensation in the healthcare workplace. The next two chapters focus, respectively, on how compensation is determined - highlighting potential pitfalls for pay equity - and regulatory and legal considerations. Chapters 5 and 6 explore organizational infrastructure, salary data collection and analysis, and culture change strategies necessary to rectify compensation inequities. Chapter 7 offers a detailed account of one medical institution’s successful journey to achieve salary equity. The book’s final chapter emphasizes that closing the gender pay gap is at its essence a business endeavor and recommends that organizations assess progress and cost with the same attention, rigor, and regularity as afforded other operating expenses. Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine offers a detailed roadmap for healthcare organizations seeking to close the gender pay gap among their physician workforce. This first-of-its-kind book will assist institutions plan courses of action and identify potential pitfalls so they can be understood and mitigated. It will also prove a valuable resource for transformational leadership and systems-based change critical to attaining compensation equity.
'... a very useful addition to teaching material in the medical sociology/health studies field that will also be of value for teachers and students in women's studies.' - Mary Ann Elston, Royal Holloway University of London, UK '... Established wisdom about gender inequalities is due for critical questioning. This authoritative and challenging collection ... from some of the most respected names in the field ... will be essential reading for students and researchers in gender studies and medical sociology.' - Professor Mildred Blaxter, University of East Anglia, UK This state-of-the-art collection reflects critically upon the current status of our knowledge about gender inequalities in health and develops an agenda for future research. Leading experts address a range of themes that are central to the development of the field. These include recent theoretical and methodological developments in sociology and social policy, and the significance of changes in gender relations following wide-scale economic and social changes with respect to the mental and physical health status of men and women. The collection focuses upon gender and health within industrialized nations including Britain, North America, Western and Eastern Europe. It will be of particular interest to students and practitioners of sociology, health policy, health studies and gender studies.
This volume brings together leading researchers from a variety of disciplines to examine three areas: health disparities and inequity due to gender, the specific problems women face in meeting the highest attainable standards of health, and the policies and actions that can address them.
The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions. A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.
Women comprise the majority of pediatricians in the United States and yet there has been slow progress in leadership diversity and equity in the field overall. While there have been many academic journal articles that examine women's roles, challenges and successes in the field, there is not one, overarching book that follows the path of women into the profession, the challenges they encountered in the early years - and still encounter - the successes they've had, and what the future might look like. This book fills that gap in medical literature. Because women are so well-represented in the field, one would think that pediatrics should be leading the way in gender equity achievements, but this is not the case. This text examines the disparities, the boundaries that are in place, the impact of intersectionality on equity, the toll gender discrimination has on the health and wellness of women in pediatrics, and best practices that can help achieve gender equity in the field. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the disparities that women, and in particular women with intersectionality, face. This book also examines the immediate impact of the pandemic on women in pediatrics, what future implications may be, and how we can potentially mitigate them. Equity strategies that can be implemented by healthcare institutions, professional societies and other medical organizations are also discussed. The book is divided into three main sections. The first section gives an overview of the history of women in pediatrics by describing stories of early leaders and the early days of women in pediatrics. The second section reviews the current state of affairs in women in pediatrics. Chapters in this section detail women entering and practicing in pediatrics; leadership; women of color; women conducting research; national campaigns and efforts focused on gender equity; and childbearing, adoption, motherhood and eldercare by women in pediatrics. The final section describes the future of women in pediatrics. The seven chapters in this section discuss leaders in pediatrics supporting women; policies and programs to advance equity; allies in gender equity efforts; research, funding and publication for women; networking, mentorship, sponsorship, coaching, and career development activities; advocacy efforts; and supporting the health and wellbeing of women in pediatrics. Written by experts in the field, Women in Pediatrics is a valuable resource for all pediatricians in academic or community-based medicine, as well as those involved in pediatric sub-specialties. On a broader level, this text is also of interest to all other women involved in medicine and science.
In May 1991, Conley, the first female tenured full professor of neurosurgery in the country, made headlines when she resigned from Stanford to protest the school's unabashed gender discrimination. In this forthright memoir, she tells her controversial story.
This volume examines the complex nature and interplay of gender, careers and inequalities in the fields of medicine and medical education through interdisciplinary, comparative and critical perspectives. Scholars will bring insights from across disciplines of social sciences, including sociology, medical anthropology, psychology, and HRM.
