Matejic Bojana, Nelson Brett D, Collins Lisa, Milenovic Miodrag S
Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Anesth Analg. 2024 Aug 12. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000007142.
Gender equity is essential for improving health outcomes globally. Despite comprising 75% of the global health workforce and dominating academic global health programs, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in global health organizations. Our study aimed to identify potential gender differences in the beliefs and attitudes regarding barriers that women anesthesiologists encounter in pursuing careers and leadership roles in global health and to identify recommendations for improving gender equity in global health.
We conducted a cross-sectional online survey focusing on career leadership opportunities and challenges uniquely faced by women clinicians in global health. We obtained permission from the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists to distribute our questionnaire to their leadership committee members during 2 months (May-July 2022).
The questionnaire was distributed to 164 study participants with 67 individuals (44.8% female) based in 38 different countries completing the survey (response rate 40.9%). Overall, 47.8% of the participants aspired to a leadership position in global health and 58.2% agreed women face unique barriers to global health leadership (70.0% of women compared to 48.6% of men; P = .081). Female gender (odds ratio [OR], 19.22, P = .004) and divorced marital status (OR, 746.26, P = .004) were positively associated and African ethnicity (OR, 0.002, P = .017) was negatively associated with the perception of gender bias in their career growth. The main challenges included balancing work and family responsibilities, lack of female mentors or role models, gender-based discrimination, and limited opportunities for career advancement. Men acknowledged these challenges but reported personally experiencing them to a lesser extent, particularly concerning lack of opportunities (P = .005), inadequate pay (P = .000), and lack of training (P = .000).
Gender disparities exist in the pursuit of global health careers. This study underscored that more women than men perceive barriers in pursuing leadership roles in global health and that men generally encounter these obstacles to a lesser extent. Female representation in leadership positions could be supported through evidence-informed policies that promote work-life balance, improve mentorship, offer equal opportunities for career advancement and adequate pay, and combat gender-based discrimination.
性别平等对于改善全球健康状况至关重要。尽管女性占全球卫生人力的75%，并在全球卫生学术项目中占主导地位，但在全球卫生组织的领导职位上，女性的代表性仍然不足。我们的研究旨在确定女性麻醉医生在追求全球卫生领域的职业和领导角色时，在对所遇到障碍的信念和态度方面可能存在的性别差异，并确定改善全球卫生领域性别平等的建议。
我们开展了一项横断面在线调查，重点关注全球卫生领域女性临床医生所特有的职业领导机会和挑战。我们获得了世界麻醉医师协会联合会的许可，在2022年5月至7月的两个月内将问卷分发给其领导委员会成员。
问卷分发给了164名研究参与者，来自38个不同国家的67人（44.8%为女性）完成了调查（回复率40.9%）。总体而言，47.8%的参与者渴望在全球卫生领域担任领导职务，58.2%的人同意女性在全球卫生领导方面面临独特障碍（女性为70.0%，男性为48.6%；P = 0.081）。女性性别（优势比[OR]，19.22，P = 0.004）和离婚婚姻状况（OR，746.26，P = 0.004）与她们职业发展中性别偏见的认知呈正相关，非洲种族（OR，0.002，P = 0.017）与这种认知呈负相关。主要挑战包括平衡工作和家庭责任、缺乏女性导师或榜样、性别歧视以及职业晋升机会有限。男性承认这些挑战，但报告称个人经历这些挑战的程度较低，特别是在机会缺乏（P = 0.005）、薪酬不足（P = 0.000）和培训缺乏（P = 0.000）方面。
在追求全球卫生职业方面存在性别差异。这项研究强调，在追求全球卫生领导角色时，认为存在障碍的女性比男性更多，而且男性通常遇到这些障碍的程度较小。可以通过基于证据的政策来支持女性在领导职位上的代表性，这些政策促进工作与生活的平衡、改善指导、提供平等的职业晋升机会和充足的薪酬，并打击性别歧视。
