Women's Underrepresentation in Pharmacy Practice Managment Positions

Abstract

Three speculations concerning women in pharmacy management positions were examined: (1) women have not been in practice long enough to have risen to manapement positions, (2) women are not motivated to assume managerial responsibilities, and (3) childbearing and rearing roles result in reduced labor force participation which interferes with women's professional development. Results from a mail survey of 228 chain pharmacists indicate that (1) women are underrepresented in management positions during their first four years of practice, but achieve statistical parity with men in management positions by their fifth year; (2) men and women demonstrated no differences in their degree of ascendancy, as measured by the Jackson Personality Research Form; and (3) women's reduced labor force participation appears to be rooted more in economics than social roles. The data do not support fully any of the three speculations concerning women in pharmacy management positions.