Shorey Shefaly, Gan Yunn-Hwen, Cavert Maleena Suppiah, Archuleta Sophia
Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Clinical Research Centre, National University of Singapore, Level 2, Block MD11, 10 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117597, Singapore.
Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, MD7 8 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117596, Singapore.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Dec 18;24(1):1462. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06470-3.
In academic medicine, the lack of gender equity hinders the career progression of women academics. This can often affect scientific productivity and widen the gender gap that exists in this field. As such, this study aimed to understand how full-time faculty members in academic medicine perceive the climate for women academics and identify target areas for interventions supporting gender equity.
This study adopted an embedded mixed-methods design. Data collection was done from November 2022 to January 2023, at the National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Medicine. The participants comprised academic clinicians and non-clinician faculty members who were either currently employed full-time at the NUS School of Medicine or had recently resigned. They completed an adapted version of the Culture Conducive to Women's Academic Success (CCWAS) questionnaire, which assessed their perceptions of the faculty climate across four domains: equal access, work-life balance, freedom from gender bias, and supportive leadership. Quantitative findings were complemented by qualitative data gathered through open-ended survey questions. ANOVA and t-test were used to analyse the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.
Compared to female participants (M = 140.0, SD = 57.9), male participants perceived greater gender equity (M = 158.7, SD = 62.9). Personal experiences of gender inequity were described by some female participants. Participants also raised various suggestions to improve work-life balance for both male and female faculty members, mitigate structural gender bias and increasing support for women faculty.
Female faculty members tend to have a less favourable view of the working climate for women in academic medicine, compared to their male counterparts. This might be attributed to differences in awareness of gender inequity and understanding of gender bias. Findings of this study provided further insight into the perceptions of faculty members regarding workplace gender equity and interventions that can be implemented to support them in their career.
Ethical approval was obtained from the National University of Singapore Institutional Review Board (NUS-IRB-2022-325).
在学术医学领域，性别不平等阻碍了女性学者的职业发展。这往往会影响科研生产力，并扩大该领域存在的性别差距。因此，本研究旨在了解学术医学领域的全职教员如何看待女性学者的工作环境，并确定支持性别平等的干预目标领域。
本研究采用嵌入式混合方法设计。数据收集于2022年11月至2023年1月在新加坡国立大学医学院进行。参与者包括目前在新加坡国立大学医学院全职工作或最近辞职的学术临床医生和非临床教员。他们完成了一份改编版的《有利于女性学术成功的文化调查问卷》（CCWAS），该问卷从平等机会、工作与生活平衡、无性别偏见以及支持性领导四个领域评估了他们对教员工作环境的看法。定量研究结果辅以通过开放式调查问题收集的定性数据。采用方差分析和t检验分析定量数据，采用内容分析法分析定性数据。
与女性参与者（M = 140.0，SD = 57.9）相比，男性参与者认为性别平等程度更高（M = 158.7，SD = 62.9）。一些女性参与者描述了性别不平等的个人经历。参与者还提出了各种建议，以改善男女教员的工作与生活平衡，减轻结构性性别偏见，并增加对女性教员的支持。
与男性教员相比，女性教员对学术医学领域女性的工作环境看法往往较差。这可能归因于对性别不平等的认识和对性别偏见的理解存在差异。本研究结果进一步深入了解了教员对工作场所性别平等的看法以及为支持他们的职业发展可实施的干预措施。
获得了新加坡国立大学机构审查委员会（NUS-IRB-2022-325）的伦理批准。
