Does Healthcare Have a Gender Problem?

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By the numbers, women clearly dominate in healthcare. For instance, they play a central role in decision-making – 80 percent of family healthcare decisions are made by women, and 75 percent of family caregivers are women. And on the employment front, a whopping 78 percent of all healthcare and social assistance workers are women, while 77 percent of all hospital employees are women.

Women are everywhere in healthcare, except at the top

But despite the fact that women outnumber men in the healthcare workforce by 3 to 1, they represent only 1 in 5 executives and board members at Fortune 500 healthcare companies. In fact, of the 125 women who carry an executive title, there’s just one single woman CEO.

Gender diversity at hospitals is slightly better, but not by much. At the top 100 U.S. hospitals, women make up only 27 percent of hospital boards and 34 percent of leadership teams. Ninety-seven of these women carry a C-level title at these hospitals and 10 women serve as hospital CEOs.

To make matters worse, women also typically earn less than men with the same education and experience. The median salary for male physicians is, on average, 20-25 percent greater than for female physicians. And male nurses earn about 19 percent more than their female professional counterparts.

“I think the pay gap is obviously unethical, especially in healthcare,” says Rebekah Apple, senior manager of physician services and support for the American Association for Physician Leadership. “From a healthcare professional’s perspective, it’s very damaging. Once you know someone is making more than you for doing the same job, there’s no way you can feel as connected to your employer as you did before.”

What’s going on?

One thing we know for sure is that the disparity is not due to a lack of educated female professionals. Nearly half of all law school and medical school graduatesare women, and women also account for one-third of graduates in MBA programs.

“Education level is not the problem,” says Paula Bobrowski, associate dean for research and faculty development at Auburn University.

Rock Health, a healthcare venture funding group, surveyed 400 women in the healthcare industry to shed light on the gender diversity issue. Their 2015 report found that 96 percent of women surveyed believe that gender discrimination still exists, and half of respondents believe that discrimination and lack of respect are among the biggest challenges they face when striving to advance.

What should we do about it?

While there are clearly moral reasons to encourage gender parity within the healthcare industry, there are also some very compelling financial reasons. Simply put, companies with women in positions of leadership make more money.

One study demonstrated that in the stock market over a six year period, companies with women on their boards outperformed companies with male-only boards by 26 percent. In another study, companies with more than three women on their board significantly outperformed those with lower female board representation – by 84 percent on return of sales, by 60 percent on return on investment, and by 46 percent on return on equity.

Recognizing female healthcare professionals for their accomplishments and treating (and paying!) them fairly can also improve morale and retention, both of which ultimately affect your patients and your bottom line.

“[Salary disparity] encourages people to look elsewhere for jobs, which then affects patient care, because turnover is expensive and time-consuming,” Apple explains.

What’s next?

One venue in healthcare where women are missing is on the healthcare conference stage. A report by RockHealth in 2013 revealed that women made up only 26 percent of conference speakers. he figure increased slightly to 32 percent in 2014. RockHealth is helping to further shrink the gap by launching a health speakers project, which creates a dialogue about diversity and promotes a database of qualified female conference speakers.

Healthcare organizations also need to continue to focus on mentoring and career development programs for women that promote visibility, provide role models for success and create supportive environments for advancement.

“The one thing I think would be very valuable is to encourage young women to seek out these kinds of roles early on,” says Apple. “And women need to support each other, and do it openly. Equal representation should be expected, and when you don’t see it, you should wonder why. That’s an easy enough problem to fix, if you know it’s there and care about it.”

Trish Joyce is a seasoned communicator, having produced promotional and educational materials in the healthcare space for over 10 years. Clients include AMC Cancer Research Center, The British Medical Journal and Sanofi. She is also the author of a self-published children’s picture book.