Gender Roles in Leadership and Healthcare Management
This week, I took the time to read about gender roles in leadership and healthcare management. The journal article I focused on was published in the Journal of Healthcare Management in 2008. Although there have been significant changes in healthcare since then, I still found a majority of the information to be surprising.
According to the article, studies found that although 78% of healthcare workforce are females, women are still less likely to be found in management or executive leadership positions (BioMed Search). After reading that specific statistic, I pondered why women were less likely to be employed in an executive leadership position. Was it related to education? Or could it potentially be related to a candidates credentials?
As I continued to read, I found the answer to my question; why are women less likely to be employed in not only an executive leadership position, but a top management position in general? If women do in fact make up 78% of healthcare, why is their presence in top level positions so low?
Transactional leadership, a term mentioned multiple times in the article, seemed to be one of the leading forces as to why women were less likely to carry a leadership position. Transactional leadership can be described as a style of leadership that focuses more on monitoring performance. It is also known to be a style of leadership that focuses on "setting clear objectives and goals for the followers as well as the use of punishments or rewards in order to encourage compliance with these goals" (Business Dictionary ). According to the study used in this article, women are more likely to develop transactional leadership tendencies, making them less likely to obtain a leadership position.
Based off of the information found in the study, it seemed that education and credentials did not influence if a women was to be placed in a healthcare leadership role. But, I questioned this.
I continued to read and found that the article mentioned multiple studies which spoke about credentials in candidates. According to studies, "men and women prefer male leaders, even when the credentials of candidates are the same" (BioMed Search). This statistic surprised me, and I wondered why this was. What other factors besides leadership style influence this statistic?
According to the article, women and men are more likely to want a male leader because of one factor: stereotypes. When a female is compared to a male, they are most likely perceived to be less strong. Studies also mentioned behaviors such as "cooperation, modesty, and emotiveness" (BioMed Search) are more likely to be found in women, while men are perceived as having behaviors such as "stability, assertiveness, and independence" (BioMed Search). The behaviors found in women are not seen as behaviors that match those that a leader should have, and because of this, women are less likely to obtain a leadership position.
Although this article was written in 2008, there were key statistics that I found interesting. It also allowed me to ask questions regarding healthcare today. Are more women being hired for leadership positions? Do they hold more executive positions? Has healthcare changed as much as we think it has?
According to the article, studies found that although 78% of healthcare workforce are females, women are still less likely to be found in management or executive leadership positions (BioMed Search). After reading that specific statistic, I pondered why women were less likely to be employed in an executive leadership position. Was it related to education? Or could it potentially be related to a candidates credentials?
As I continued to read, I found the answer to my question; why are women less likely to be employed in not only an executive leadership position, but a top management position in general? If women do in fact make up 78% of healthcare, why is their presence in top level positions so low?
Transactional leadership, a term mentioned multiple times in the article, seemed to be one of the leading forces as to why women were less likely to carry a leadership position. Transactional leadership can be described as a style of leadership that focuses more on monitoring performance. It is also known to be a style of leadership that focuses on "setting clear objectives and goals for the followers as well as the use of punishments or rewards in order to encourage compliance with these goals" (Business Dictionary ). According to the study used in this article, women are more likely to develop transactional leadership tendencies, making them less likely to obtain a leadership position.
Based off of the information found in the study, it seemed that education and credentials did not influence if a women was to be placed in a healthcare leadership role. But, I questioned this.
I continued to read and found that the article mentioned multiple studies which spoke about credentials in candidates. According to studies, "men and women prefer male leaders, even when the credentials of candidates are the same" (BioMed Search). This statistic surprised me, and I wondered why this was. What other factors besides leadership style influence this statistic?
According to the article, women and men are more likely to want a male leader because of one factor: stereotypes. When a female is compared to a male, they are most likely perceived to be less strong. Studies also mentioned behaviors such as "cooperation, modesty, and emotiveness" (BioMed Search) are more likely to be found in women, while men are perceived as having behaviors such as "stability, assertiveness, and independence" (BioMed Search). The behaviors found in women are not seen as behaviors that match those that a leader should have, and because of this, women are less likely to obtain a leadership position.
Although this article was written in 2008, there were key statistics that I found interesting. It also allowed me to ask questions regarding healthcare today. Are more women being hired for leadership positions? Do they hold more executive positions? Has healthcare changed as much as we think it has?
A fairly common stereotype women leaders face is the perception of difficult to work with, and do not get along with one another. The article below talks to how women in Obama's cabinet unified their voices in order to be heard equal to their counterparts. In terms of healthcare, my experience says it's a balancing act-competency alone is not enough. Competency must be balanced with trustworthiness, delivery and fairness. It's not a matter of being kind because you're a woman, it's a matter of being respectful because you're a professional (delivery), while treating all situations similarly regardless as to who you're talking to (fairness). This approach has helped me over come some of the female -leader stereotypes.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/09/13/white-house-women-are-now-in-the-room-where-it-happens/
Very well written and thoughtful post.
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