Abstract
BackgroundAn intersectionality approach that addresses the non-additive influences of social categories and power structures, such as gender and ethnicity, is used as a research paradigm to further understanding the complexity of health inequities. While most researchers adopt an intersectionality approach to study patients’ health status, in this article we exemplify its usefulness and importance for studying underrepresentation in the health care workforce. Our research objectives were to examine gender patterns of underrepresentation in the medical profession among the Arab minority in Israel.MethodsWe used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The quantitative data were obtained from the 2011 Labor Force Survey conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, which encompassed some 24,000 households. The qualitative data were obtained through ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted during 2013 with Arab physicians and with six nurses working in Israeli hospitals.ResultsThe findings indicate that with respect to physicians, the Arab minority in Israel is underrepresented in the medical field, and that this is due to Arab women’s underrepresentation. Arab women’s employment and educational patterns impact their underrepresentation in medicine. Women are expected to enter traditional gender roles and conform to patriarchal and collectivist values, which makes it difficult for them to study medicine.ConclusionsUsing an intersectionality approach to study underrepresentation in medicine provides a foundation for action aimed at improving public health and reducing health disparities.
Highlights
An intersectionality approach that addresses the non-additive influences of social categories and power structures, such as gender and ethnicity, is used as a research paradigm to further understanding the complexity of health inequities
Quantitative findings: Arab women are underrepresented in medicine while Arab men are not The data from the Labor Force Survey [41] indicate that the Arab population in Israel is underrepresented in medicine
Arab female physicians comprise only 0.14% of the Arab female population (P < .001) (Table 1). Another way to reflect underrepresentation in medicine is by calculating the rate of Arab physicians in the entire population of Israeli physicians, in relation to the rate of Arabs in the general population
Summary
An intersectionality approach that addresses the non-additive influences of social categories and power structures, such as gender and ethnicity, is used as a research paradigm to further understanding the complexity of health inequities. Intersectionality theory Intersectionality theory originated in the work of African American feminist scholars (such as [1,2,3]) These scholars studied multiple forms of marginalization, which are mutually constituted and cannot be understood by approaches that treat race/ethnicity and sex/gender as distinct subjects of inquiry. Intersectionality is not an additive approach; it does not calculate the cumulative impact of social positions and structural forces such as gender, race and class, as the sum of their independent effects. It focuses on examining how social positions and forces interact, beyond their additive impacts, to shape and influence human experiences [5]
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