We hear a lot about the advances of women in health care professions -- "more women in medicine than at any point in history," and all that -- but a new survey suggests they aren't advancing as quickly as they might.
Healthcare IT company Rock Health did a survey and data analysis to check the status of women in the health care industry.
Women, their studies found, compose 73% of medical and health services managers -- but only 4% of health care company CEOs, and 18% of hopsital CEOs.
Also, while women comprise 47% of med school graduates, they're only 32% of doctors and surgeons. (Maybe they moved on to medical management -- oh, wait, right.)
Rock Health asked 100 women in health care about this, and nearly half of them said the biggest barrier to their advancement was "self-confidence" -- lack of it, we assume. About 45% blamed time constraints.
But in the qualitative section, Rock Health found many allusions to the familiar glass-ceiling scenario. "Gender roles continue to exist in the workplace," said one respondent, "making this progression harderthan originally imagined." Another said, "My male coworkers are more likely to take credit for a job, whereas I tend to share credit with those that have helped me in the process of carrying out a task." Others cited lack of a role model (43% said they had no "mentor" in their careers).
Rock Health recommends women in the industry actively work in the other direction -- "Showcase the women’s successes... Serve as a mentor to other women... Support reversals of traditional domestic roles," etc.