Pérez-Sánchez S, Madueño SE, Montaner J. Gender Gap in the Leadership of Health Institutions: The Influence of Hospital-Level Factors.
Health Equity 2021;
5:521-525. [PMID:
34476325 PMCID:
PMC8409238 DOI:
10.1089/heq.2021.0013]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: To analyze whether the increased representation of women in the health field is accompanied by a greater presence in leadership positions in the public health system and whether there are differences according to the hospital level.
Methods: A descriptive study of the distribution of leadership positions by sex and type of hospital within the health centers of a regional public health system.
Results: In total, 74.01% of the professionals were women. The representation of women in management positions was 33.1%, and among service chiefs, it was 24.01%. In the service headings, we observed that surgical specialties had a lower representation of women (30.9% in medical specialties vs. 18.1% in surgical specialties, p<0.0001). By type of hospital, no differences were found in the management positions, but there were differences in the medical chiefs, with less female representation in the regional hospitals (28.6% vs. 39.7%, p=0.003).
Conclusion: Women represent the majority in the public health system. Nonetheless, their representation in positions of greater responsibility and decision-making is very limited, being particularly low in county hospitals. Increasing female representation in these positions is a current challenge for society, and equality policies need to be developed and applied to minimize this gender gap.
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