Women in leadership positions: a study of allied health chairpersons.

The National Commission on Allied Health Education identified as one of its primary recommendations the need for increased numbers of women and minorities in leadership positions in allied health. The majority of allied health practitioners and students entering the allied health fields today are female. In these professions women tend to remain in direct line practice positions, while men typically occupy the managerial and executive positions. Much research and writing has appeared addressing how the traditional socialization process affects women's career patterns. The personal, interpersonal, and structural barriers that impede women's advancement into managerial positions have been reasonably well delineated. Much less attention has been directed toward how women who overcome these barriers function in managerial roles. Little work has been done on the functioning of males and females in administrative and managerial positions in academic settings. The research reported here involved a study of the perceived goal emphasis and time spent on the academic, administrative, and leadership functions by male and female allied health chairpersons. In this study male and female chairpersons were found to be remarkably similar in terms of emphasis and time spent on key departmental functions. The significance of these results is discussed relative to the traditional male/female socialization process. Recommendations are made about appropriate curricular modifications and professional/career development activities needed to encourage women to more readily accept leadership responsibilities in allied health during the 80s.