Abstract
Half of medical school graduates are women, but female doctors experience significant professional tensions. Low numbers of women in leadership roles, high burnout and attrition, and continued harassment suggest a culture that undermines the contributions of women. This manuscript explores research from sociology, business and medicine through a personal lens. Understanding the way gender influences the complex state of women in medicine suggests changes are needed in the architecture of the modern medical workforce. Individuals, mentors and organizations can make changes that would improve the way that the working environment cultivates a diverse workforce to reach its full potential.
Highlights
Looking up at the podium in a big auditorium in my first year of medical school, I first heard this expression from the dean of students, as she towered over us
Exploring insights raised by this research through the lens of my own experiences leads to suggestions for how medicine can move forward
When the doctor is a wife? I always wanted to be a doctor, but I remember the discrete moments of panic when I realized I would earn my medical degree before I married; when I learned about age-related declines in fertility
Summary
Women have come a long way since the mid-19th century founding of all-women’s medical schools. Equal numbers of women and men graduate medical school [2, 3]. While the gender profile of doctors has evolved, medical training has not. In 2014, women represented 38% of full-time medical school faculty, 21% of full professors, 15% of department chairs, and 16% of deans [7]. Sociologists give three explanations for this: women opt out of opportunities based on different values; women spend time on non-work priorities; and women face discriminatory barriers at work [10]. Each of these factors plays a role. The result is fewer women come forward and those that do have a harder time
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