What’s Holding Women in Medicine Back from Leadership

For over 25 years, women have made up at least 40% of U.S. medical students. This past year, more women than men were enrolled in U.S. medical schools. Yet gender parity is still not reflected in medical leadership. Women account for only 18% of hospital CEOs and 16% of all deans and department chairs in the U.S.—positions that typically direct the mission and control the resources at medical centers. Women are also in the minority when it comes to senior authorship (10%) and Editors-In-Chief (7%) at prestigious medical journals. These disparities are terribly disappointing. Women physicians add a tremendous amount of strength to the field of medicine, and health care leaders — from hospital executives to medical school deans — need to do a better job of retaining these women and developing them as leaders. The authors combed through research to identify factors contributing to gender disparities in the field (including implicit gender and maternal bias, and system-wide policies that disadvantage women) and how organizations can start addressing them.