Gender Diversity in Healthcare Leadership
As the world enters the time of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, it is of utmost importance that healthcare organizations review gender diversity in healthcare leadership. While there is plenty of discussion about equality in healthcare hiring, female leaders in healthcare continue to feel discouraged when it comes to parity in the workplace.
Just a few weeks ago, it was discovered that in Japan, a medical school was purposely altering entry exam scores to keep women out of the field. But this is not just an issue abroad. A recent survey by Merritt Hawkins found that male doctors in Maryland are paid around 50% more than their female equivalents. The numbers are staggering with an average pay gap of $111,000 – regardless of the doctor’s specialties.
It should come as no surprise that another survey found that the majority of women in the healthcare industry expect to reach an equal footing with their male counterparts in 25 years. This statement is alarming. The fact that women feel that parity could take the length of an entire career to achieve should concern all of us.
Let us take a look at a few other statistics that show how much further healthcare needs when it comes to gender issues in the workplace:
- Only 22% of Fortune 500 healthcare C-suite positions are held by women
- 33% of hospital executives are women
- 50.7% of the enrolled population in US Medical Schools is made up of women
- Primary doctors who are women make $36,000 less than their male counterparts
- Female specialists make $95,000 less than their male counterparts
- In the past 21 years, 3,085 healthcare employees filed claims of sexual harassment with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- 90% of African American women feel their race is a barrier to career advancement.
Gender Diversity in Healthcare Leadership
What do all these numbers mean? That hospitals and healthcare organizations that implement equality programs and concentrate on gender diversity in healthcare leadership can yield significant benefits.
First, attracting female leaders who currently feel undervalued and underappreciated will build a team that is loyal and which will want to grow with the organization. This alone can have an overall impact on team morale, patient satisfaction, gross profits, and talent turnover. The benefits of gender diversity in healthcare simply should not be ignored.
If your hospital system or healthcare organization is ready to get serious about gender diversity in healthcare, it needs to make gender diversity a primary incentive and not a side project. Gender equality must become a key mission to be lauded across all departments in your organization. It is important to work with current female leaders to set up a system of role models, mentors, and sponsors for those women who may not already be in leadership positions, but have the potential to make that move.
Current leaders need to create programs to discuss current gender issues that may need to be addressed and through those conversations, come up with calls-to-action that address said issues and prevent them from happening in the future.
These diversity and inclusion efforts need to be well thought out and planned and while they may be meant to drive parity between the genders, the programs should – as an end result – create an environment of equality for all employees regardless of gender, race and sexual orientation.
If you are ready to create an effective plan for gender parity and gender diversity in healthcare, contact us. Summit Talent Group is a healthcare executive search firm that focuses on diversity in all areas of the industry. In fact, ⅓ of leadership positions at Summit Talent Group are made up of female leaders with extensive experience in healthcare. Because of this, we understand both the challenges faced by healthcare organizations and the many benefits that come from having a diverse workforce with a plethora of skills.
Summit Talent Group is a boutique healthcare executive search firm. We are unlike healthcare recruiters and contingency firms. Our team only accepts a limited number of engagements at a time. This allows our principals to take the time to truly get to know your organization and its individual strengths and weaknesses so that we can better determine your needs for this project. It could be that you may need a long-term leader, but your organization may also benefit from interim talent to help during the process.
Because of the time spent on deep analysis at the early stages of the search engagement, our searches are completed quickly and effectively. Our goal is to find the person who has the right credentials, experience, and who will be the perfect cultural fit for your organization. Our goal is to find the person who will grow with your organization and get you results.
If you would like to speak to us about your diversity talent needs, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
