Guest editorial: Women-in-leadership research and feminist futures: new agendas for feminist research and impact on gender equality

Dismantling the structures of inequality: why we need feminist leadership in the health sector

“…Approaches to increase women’s leadership often emphasise individual empowerment. Critics have highlighted that merely advocating for more women rising through the organisational ranks without addressing the unequal nature of the organisation or system itself risks reinforcing the idea that it is women not systems that need to be “fixed.” 21 Drawing on these concerns, feminist academics and practitioners have advocated for a different approach to thinking about leadership, promoting a feminist leadership that emphasises principles of social justice and redistributive justice, including within organisations. 12…”

Understanding the Complexities of Leadership and Intersectionality in Women in Tourism Research: A Conceptual Analysis

“…Motivated to contribute to the solution of this problem, several academics have focused on making visible the obstacles women face in terms of access and performance in leadership positions in tourism (Costa et al, 2017). However, most of these investigations have been developed in the context of the global North and have assumed that the needs and challenges of the women studied are generalizable to all women (Mavin et al, 2023).…”

Health systems in India: analysing barriers to inclusive health leadership through a gender lens

“…4 In India, male medical doctors dominate health leadership despite a scarcity of evidence demonstrating their suitability for guiding healthcare organisations. 5 How can such imbalances be transformed? This is a central question of the BMJ collection on gender equality in the health workforce ( www.bmj.com/collections/gender-equality-health-workforce ).…”

“… 11 12 However, this theory overemphasises individuals and obscures the need for active intervention to remove barriers at structural and organisational levels. 11 12 Promoting women’s movement along the pipeline without addressing inequalities within the organisation or system risks reinforcing the idea that it is women not systems that require “fixing.” 5 8 Even when healthcare professions become highly feminised, as has occurred in dentistry, it is not sufficient to overcome the patriarchal institutional structure of the sector, and women continue to face significant barriers to progress. 13 …”