4 September2022Editor NoteHealthcare needs more Women in Leadership roles ProntoRachita SharmaSpecial EditorHealthcare is said to be one of the largest and most important sectors for any country. It is the backbone supporting the health and wellbeing of the country, as was made abundantly clear by the COVID-19 pandemic that raved through the world. It is also one of the sectors that sees a large number of women in the workforce. An old Indian stereotype considers engineering as the best suited field for boys and medicine as the best suited field for women. Although reductive in nature, this stereotype has led to healthcare witnessing a much higher representation of women. Varied fields including nursing, pharma, dentistry, medicine or other allied fields all see women forming a large chunk of as the workforce in all of them.According to a 2019 report by Lean In and McKinsey, as compared to other sectors, women in healthcare are better represented at all levels. It also mentioned that women are promoted at similar rates to men, and report similar career satisfaction in healthcare. The report was focused on data from North America, but it also indicates a similar reality in India. Reports suggest that only one third of students across Indian medical colleges are male, the rest are all women. It is thus evident that substantially more number of women are graduating from medical institutions that men. But does it reflect the same way in our country's healthcare workforce? Unfortunately, it does not. The percentage of women in entry levels roles is high. But the number does not translate into the top leadership positions. A WHO study found that while 70 percent of the entire workforce in the healthcare sector is made up of women yet their representation in leadership roles is only about 25 percent. The criticality of gender diversity in a field such as healthcare can hardly be overstated. This become even more important since women form a majority of the patients who visit emergency departments. It is important for the industry as a whole to understand what is keeping women in healthcare from rising up the ranks? As found by the Lean In and McKinsey, `lack of ambition' is certainly not one of the reasons. It all comes down to structural and social challenges. There are several institutional challenges owing to which underlying biases still exist in the industry in different forms. Its high-time the healthcare sector fixes its gender inequality challenges. Do let us know your thoughts.
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