User:Lilysloan1/Sexism in medicine

Stereotype Threats

A stereotype threat is observed when a stigmatized group is in a situation where negative stereotypes are often used in interpreting their behavior, and the risk of being judged by these stereotypes can elicit a disruptive state that undermines performance and aspirations. As discussed earlier, there are less women in leadership positions in academic medicine. Descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes affect women in these roles. A descriptive component consists of beliefs about the inherent characteristics of men and women. At the center of these beliefs is that women are more nurturing, sympathetic kind and caring. Men are often described as agentic or assertive, ambitious and independent. Stereotype threats against women are especially common for women in leadership roles. The stereotype-based perspective towards women has been used to explain the lack of fit for leadership roles in medicine. These stereotypes canter on perceived characteristics, skills and aspirations of women and how they have been perceived to not coincide with what us valued for effective leadership. In a twenty year study done on stereotype threats, researchers found that stereotype threats can increase feelings of anxiety, mind-wandering, negative thinking, and can decrease the function of working memory. A functional working memory is needed to successfully execute a task in many scenarios. This study also found that individuals experiencing stereotype threats may find it necessary to negate these threats and put forth effort to suppress these thoughts which can be inconsistent with the goals of the task.

Obstetrics and Gynecology

In 2018, 59% of gynecologists were women, yet there still is a pay gap based on gender in this specialty. Female obstetrician-gynecologists face barriers in advancing into leadership positions and earn around $36,000 less a year than their male counterpart. Although sexism in the medical field has often been associated with women, discrimination has been noted male populations of obstetricians-gynecologists. Male obstetricians-gynecologists can be negatively impacted by a patient's desire to have a female clinician for their women's health care needs. Due to societally prescribed roles for men and women, men are often discouraged from entering this specialty and can receive judgement based on unconscious or conscious bias. A 2018 study, published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found that women in obstetrics and gynecology faced discrimination based on differences in salary, and men in obstetrics and gynecology faced discrimination based on patient preferences.

Women in Leadership Positions: Cardiovascular Medicine

From a broad perspective, women hold a large number of leadership roles in politics and in the workforce than ever in the United States. Yet, the cardiology specialty remains dominated by men, being that in 2015, only 13.2% of cardiologists were women. Surveys have shown that the reasoning behind this may be due to a desire for a better work-life balance for women and a negative perception of cardiology. Although there is a discrepancy in the number of female physicians specialized in cardiology, women in cardiology have become more involved in leadership roles. These roles may be in research science, health systems administration, professional societies and clinical practice. In scientific research, women have made an impact in scientific inquiry and investigation into the causes and treatments of cardiovascular disease. In leadership roles for the professional cardiology societies, women have increasingly become more involved worldwide. In educational systems, women have become more involved in cardiovascular service and in serving as clinical chiefs and program directors. However, there is still a gap in the number of women serving as deans, chairs of departments, and university presidents. Women make up only 15% of medical school deans and interim deans. Studies have found that women tend to not advance at the same rate as men in the medical field. This could be due to women not receiving independent grants, publications, and leadership positions. Additionally, differences in pay could be attributed to implicit gender and maternal bias. Implicit bias can affect hiring and promoting of women in the medical field because of a belief that women should be held at a higher standard than their male peers. Overall, underrepresentation in the medical field could influence patient care and outcomes. Diversity promotes health equity, and the medical field is continually improving its efforts toward finding the root of the problem of under-representation of women in the medical field.