Gender Diversity in Healthcare Leadership
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), women comprise almost 70% of the global health and social workforce but are estimated to hold only 25% of senior leadership roles. In addition, UN Women reports prevailing stark gender disparities in economic and political spaces. While there has been some progress, women in the workforce still earn 24 per cent less than men globally.
The ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development espoused through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a stand-alone goal on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, complemented by gender equality targets in other SDGs. Precisely, SDG 5 seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by addressing key challenges such as poverty, inequality, and violence against women.
While making direct contributions to the realisation of SDG 3 on health and well-being for all, organisations in the health sector can make a meaningful contribution towards the realisation of SDG 5. One such approach is to intentionally develop and implement gender-responsive policies and practices. This includes ensuring equal pay for equal work, providing maternity and paternity leave, promoting work-life balance, and addressing gender-based discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
When it comes to the representation of women in leadership positions, organisations should actively work towards achieving gender parity in leadership and decision-making positions. This can be done through targeted recruitment and promotion strategies, mentorship and sponsorship programs, and creating inclusive and supportive health sector work environments.
Providing access to continuous professional education and training programs is another strategy to empower women with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the health sector. This includes opportunities for women to develop leadership, technical, entrepreneurial capacity, and abilities. While doing this, organisations should promote flexible work arrangements, such as remote work, flexible hours, and task sharing, to accommodate women's diverse needs and responsibilities in the workforce. This can help women balance work and family responsibilities and increase their participation and retention in the health sector workforce.
Health sector organisations will see immense benefits among staff by increasing awareness about unconscious bias and stereotypes hindering women's advancement in the workplace. This can be done through training programs, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, and promoting a culture of respect and equality. Further, men serving in healthcare organisations have a role in advancing gender equality by being actively engaged as allies. This includes encouraging men to challenge gender norms and stereotypes, advocating for gender equality, and supporting women's career advancement.
As with any other elements of health system strengthening, collecting, and analysing data, specifically gender-disaggregated data, will go a long way to identify and address gender gaps and inequalities in the workplace. This data can inform evidence-based policies and interventions to promote women's empowerment and gender equality within the health sector. In line with the use of data, establishing mechanisms to monitor and evaluate progress towards women's empowerment in the workplace will be complimentary, including organisational and departmental targets and key performance indicators that can be used for reporting on progress and challenges.
Fostering supportive organisational networks and mentorship programs for women in the workplace and creating opportunities for women to connect, network, and be mentored by more experienced health professionals will help them build confidence, expand their professional networks, and access career opportunities. This can be done through collaboration with stakeholders, such as civil society organisations, academia, and the private sector, to share best practices, leverage resources, and drive collective action towards women's empowerment in the workplace.
In recognition of women who have made remarkable contributions within organisations or in government to drive positive transformation in the health sector, the Quality Healthcare Awards includes an award to recognise excellence and innovation by women in healthcare leadership to underscore the importance of women's representation and active engagement in health sector leadership to address the disparity, inspire more women to lead and accelerate the full and effective participation of women in leadership at all levels of decision-making. This is in addition to recognising healthcare organisations that actively promote gender equality in the workplace by advancing women in leadership. This will go a long way in making significant contributions to the realisation of SDG 5 by 2030 and remain in place for the future.
Contacts: info@qualityhealthcareawards.com