Women leadership barriers in healthcare, academia and business

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map the barriers to women leadership across healthcare, academia and business, and identify barriers prevalence across sectors. A barriers thematic map, with quantitative logic, and a prevalence chart have been developed, with the aim to uncover inequalities and provide orientation to develop inclusion and equal opportunity strategies within different work environments. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review method was adopted across five electronic databases. Rigorous inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to select relevant publications, followed by critical appraisal of the eligible articles. The geographical target was Europe, with a publication time range spanning the period from 2000 to 2015. Certain specialized international studies were also examined. The key themes were identified using summative content analysis and the findings were analyzed using qualitative meta-summary method to formulate hypotheses for subsequent research. Findings In total, 26 barriers were identified across the aforementioned sectors. A high degree of barriers commonalities was identified, with some striking differences between the prevalence of barriers across sectors. Research limitations/implications The results of this study may need further validation using statistical methodology given the knowledge base gaps regarding the range of barriers and the differences in their prevalence. Bias and interpretation in reporting anchored in different theoretical frameworks ought to be further examined. Additional variables such as ambiguously stated barriers, sector overlap, women’s own choices, cultural and educational background and analysis in the context of the economic crisis, ensuing austerity and migratory pressure, are also worth exploring. Practical implications Women’s notable and persisting underrepresentation in top leading positions across sectors reflects a critical drawback in terms of organizational and societal progress particularly regarding inclusion and balanced decision making. Practice-related blind spots may need to be further examined and addressed through specific policies. Originality/value The comparative nature of barriers to women leadership across three sectors allows the reader to contrast the differences in gender inequalities and to comprehend inclusion challenges in healthcare, academia and business. The authors draw attention to varying degrees of barriers prevalence that have been understudied and deserve to be further explored. This gap in knowledge extends to policy, thus, highlighting the need to address the gender equality and inclusion challenges in a context-specific manner across work environments.

Exploring Women Healthcare Leaders' Perceptions on Barriers to Leadership in Greek Context

“…Participants were asked to identify the most and least preferred barriers from the choice scenario list of five barriers based on the Barriers Thematic Map (BTM) (42). The BTM was deemed appropriate for this exploratory study since it reports a comprehensive list of 26 barriers to women leadership with varying degrees of prevalence (Table 1) compiled using a multi-method approach and validated from several experts and focus groups during dedicated workshops (42, 43).…”

Exploring a Women-Only Training Program for Coach Developers

“…There is a considerable gender imbalance in leadership positions across several fields including healthcare, academia, and business (Kalaitzi, Czabanowska, Fowler-Davis, & Brand, 2017). In sport specifically, we are seeing the number of women in leadership decreasing (Demers, Thibault, Brière, & Culver, 2019).…”

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“…Bismark et al (9) argue that these perceived deficits derive from internalized beliefs about traits and qualities of women who aspire to be leaders. The lack of mentoring, the (un)conscious biases, the male dominated working environment and the conservative social norms in terms of uptake of leading career pathways while running a household have also been hold responsible for the sturdiness of perceptions on women's leadership deficit (49).…”

“…Two experienced members of the research team (SK and LC) carried out the semi-structured interviews; inter-views lasted from 20 to 50 minutes. The interview questionnaire focused on the nature of encountered barriers, on reasoning and potential ways to overcome them ( Figure II) and was informed by the output of a previously conducted systematic literature review pertaining to gendered barriers to women's leadership in healthcare 49 and by dedicated workshops and focus groups. 50,51 Figure II | The interview questionnaire CHAPTER 4.…”

“…Then, the process included data coding into meaningful groups using the coding scheme of the Barriers Thematic Map (BTM). 49 Researchers adopted the BTM coding scheme to contrast the study's findings on the grounds of comprehensiveness and pro-vided prevalence (Figure 3). BTM illustrates a comprehensive list of 26 barriers to women's leadership with varying degrees of prevalence resulting from a systematic literature review with European coverage ranging from 2000 to 2015; the list has also been validated by several experts and focus groups during dedicated workshops.…”