The organizational barriers for women leadership in Healthcare sector

Summary of the methods

Summary answer

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Title

Organisational barriers for women leadership in healthcare sector in developed world

There are not enough women in leadership position in healthcare organizations but however, participation of women is increasing various segments particularly in health care sector but they are often under-represented in leadership roles (Pio, Kilpatrick and Le Fevre, 2017). There are many barriers faced by women who are in leadership position in healthcare sector such as social inequalities in gender, personal responsibilities and many more. There are not enough systematic reviews done on barriers to women leadership but there are many systematic reviews done that can help in explaining role of women as leaders in healthcare organization. The main aim of research because of which researcher has chosen this topic is to explore all kinds of barriers that are faced by women in leadership position in healthcare organizations.

As per the statistics of world health organisation, nearly 70% of the healthcare workforce comprise of women (Women in the health workforce, 2018). According to the statistics given in briefing paper “Women and the economy” by Powell, 2019 (Accessed through link: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06838) women employment rate in UK is 71.4% in 2018 while that of males was 80.3%. The maximum percentage of jobs held by women in UK were also in health care sector.

Despite such huge engagement in the industry the women faces a wide range of barriers and challenges in organisation affecting their performance and limiting their ability and growth opportunities. Women leaders face more organisational barriers as compare to men leaders on the basis of gender stereotypes related to women (Kalaitzi and et.al., 2017). This gender discrimination affects performance of individuals and deprive highly talented leaders in exploring growth opportunities. Such organisational barriers not only prevent talented health care force from providing good quality services but are also crucial in affecting the service quality and  requirements of the community (Wahid and et.al., 2017). In addition to the women empowerment encouraging equal opportunities for women leaders is also  vital for the improved health care services and needs.

Literature review

Women work force in healthcare

According to Carmona, (2017) women are equal part of the health care but their gender aspect make their path to leadership more challenging. There are several stereotypes which demands that women must act in appropriate ways and they must act ideally in accordance with the cultural needs. The stereotypes and theories about women leaders are quite rampant and also make it challenging for them to provide best of their professional role due to restrictions imposed by social and cultural gender stereotypes. Women leaders are often discouraged and deprived of leadership opportunities as it is assumed that women cannot be good leaders especially in health care systems which demands for complex timings and hectic work schedules (Ludwig, Dhatt and Kickbusch, 2018). According to What About Women in the Workplace in Scandinavia? (2018), data provided by the percentage of female workforce in Norway and Sweden is nearly 48% while for Denmark is 47%.  In the same context Haile, Emmanuel and Dzathor, (2016) stated that existing stereotypes and lack of support from the staff members also diminishes the confidence level of women employees. Thus as a result both men and women employees in health care assume and accept that men leaders are more efficient and suitable for the health care industry. The women are also liable and expected to fulfil their household responsibilities as the primary duty (Alabdulhadi, Schyns and Staudigl, 2017). Thus, even if they are in role of leadership then also it is believed that they must not compromise towards their family and household responsibility. Hence the over expectation from them leads to professional and personal imbalance affecting the confidence level of women. In the same wake people also used to withdraw their support and cooperation from women leaders to challenge them and to prove that since they have family responsibilities, they cannot become a good leader.

As per the view of Makarem,  (2016) the perception that motherhood is critical aspect of only one gender and thus it is impossible for women to balance motherhood and their long term professional plans. Thus women leaders may have expertise and efficiency but they cannot serve organisation for long term as man leader. Hence most of the health care service providers used to prefer men leaders so that long term support can be expected.

Connerley and Wu,  (2016) elucidated that there is lack of gender equality in existing social system. Even in developed countries women does not have equal treatment or opportunities. The industries such as health care sector which have good participation of women employees also used to have great extent of boundaries for the roles and responsibilities of women leaders. In the male dominating societies it is still a very challenging aspect to accept the women leaders, managing and leading a team comprising of all male members. This is one of the reason that most of the women who have leadership capabilities does not take initiatives to overcome organisational challenges (Lega, Prenestini and Rosso, 2017). Women leaders  believe that it can be hard for the other members to accept their leadership and thus it will influence the team outcomes and will even raise a question on their efficiency.

Organisational barriers related to women leadership

According to Choi and et.al., (2016) in addition to the social inequalities in gender there are several aspects or organisational factors which act as barrier to leadership of women leaders. The first challenge is over expectation from women leaders as ideal workers. In health care services it is expected that in professions such as nursing or care services women are more efficient and ideal. They are also expected that along with the personal responsibilities women must prove themselves efficient at work place as well   (Bierema, 2016) . As a leaders they must not commit any mistake or take risk because it will directly support the existing inequalities and stereotypes related to gender differences.

Strategies to overcome barriers related to women leadership

According to the view of Rochon, Davidoff and Levinson, (2016) there are various strategies that can be used to overcome barriers for women leadership. First strategy is to make changes within legislative and electoral reforms so that existing constitution can focus on identifying all kinds of discriminations or barriers that women face in leading an organization. These changes will help them to provide a support to women who would like to take initiative in leading an organization (Lega, Prenestini and Rosso, 2017). Although many countries today are focusing on supporting women advancement but still there are various factors because of which loads of barriers occur that are faced by women in leadership. In healthcare industry specifically there are Various barriers that are faced by women and for that it is important to build some strategies to reduce these barriers. As cited by, Mohammed, Bagudu and Lawal, (2018) explains that, One of the main strategies that can be used to promote women leadership in healthcare sector is to make gender diversity a management priority. This will provide women an equal support in decision making. Healthcare organizations can also focus on supporting networks where women can focus on problem solving and creating alliance. Other than this organizations can also focus on enhancing remote and flexible working opportunities for women. This will help women leaders to overcome personal barriers in a better manner.

Opportunities for women leaders in health care industry

As per the view of Shillcutt and Silver, (2018) today women leaders in each and every sector are increasing drastically. Not only this many organizations today are also supporting women leadership and are providing them an opportunity to advance themselves on top positions. Even health care industry is focus in expanding or creating opportunities for women. Many health care organizations are focusing on increasing training opportunities for women so that they can build or enhance their leadership skills and qualities. It is one of the best ways in which opportunities for women as leaders in healthcare industry are increasing. It is also helping healthcare industry to transparent and advance opportunities for women as a leader so that so that they can understand their goals and choose suitable paths appropriately (Alabdulhadi, Schyns and Staudigl, 2017). Other than this today many healthcare sector organizations are focusing on organizing community programs for women in this sector in order to expand health care opportunities for them and if they want to expand their careers and lead a path for others then they can (Ludwig, Dhatt and Kickbusch, 2018). These programs are enhancing opportunities for women leadership and especially in healthcare sector these programs are supporting women’s so that they can enhance their careers and can lead as an example for others. Not only this Shillcutt and Silver, (2018) further explains that today more than 60 percent employees entering in healthcare sector are women as compared to men. This is also helping in expanding growth opportunities of women as leaders.

Organizational model

According to the view of Davidson and Burke, 2016, structure of organisation reflects the way in which management and leadership style works. In that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and it states that what role is played by whom. So, it becomes easy to perform business functions and attain goals and objectives. However, in this technique is identified as well which makes it easy to define roles. Also, it describes the relationship between management and employees. The groups are formed and assigned particular tasks. Thus, on basis of model structure of organisation is developed. Alongside, the model describes goals and objectives of firm and define relation between departments (Pio, Kilpatrick and Le Fevre, 2017). Basically, there are various types of organisational models which is line, functional, line and staff and project based model. In line a simple hierarchy is formed where authority flows from top to bottom. Here, each person role is clear with its delegation of authority. This model is rigid to be followed. Furthermore, in functional model reporting is done to one or more person. Hence, right info is given to all staff. In line and staff model, each manager is having one self staff below them. So, in this manager has to report to CEO assistant (Pio, Kilpatrick and Le Fevre, 2017). It consumes a lot of time in flow of information. The project based model is highly complex. This is because roles are assigned as per function of project. So, it may include same roles for different projects. The last model is matrix one where diversified roles exists along with many teams.

As elucidated by Hill and et.al., 2016 with change in structure, roles and responsibilities are also changed. This is because job role is changed and employees are assigned more responsibilities. The model is applied by analysing organisation needs. On basis of needs and goals, structure is developed (Ludwig, Dhatt and Kickbusch, 2018). It enables in attaining those in effective team. but in recent times, there is many trends occurred in model. It has highly impacted on small business structure. They have to assign roles on basis of goals. Apart from it, many small companies are not able to form a structure. They are working on side by side business plan. The floor plans are opened where people are assigned roles on basis of their skills and abilities.

Similarly, Lifearc is a medical research council. Its structure is formed on basis of model. The roles are clearly defined. In that Dr. John is chairman of council. Below him, many researchers and scientist are working in medical field. Each one is assigned distinct roles on basis of their skills and capabilities (Kalaitzi and et.al., 2017). With this women role were specified and they lead a team. So, small teams were formed with allocated tasks. In this way information was passed in efficient way (Lega, Prenestini and Rosso, 2017). In this organisation Melanie Lee is women leader who have successfully leading team. She follows democratic style which enabled in involving all staff to participate in decision making.

Literature gaps

A vast range of studies have been conducted on issues highlighting the gender discrimination in health care and barriers to women leadership. The previous literature sources mainly emphasis on reasons which affects the women leadership in health care, however a very limited attention is paid to impact of such gender bias and its impact on health care. This research study will not only identify the organisational barriers but will also focus on the solutions to address such barriers  (Ahmed and et.al., 2016). Further the study will also evaluate the role of such organisational barriers in influencing the quality of health care services and progress of women empowerment in developed countries which is not determined in the previous studies or literature sources.

Aim

To analyse the various organisational barriers for women leadership in healthcare sector in developed world.

Objectives

• To understand the current status of women leadership in healthcare sectors.
• To evaluate challenges faced by women leaders in healthcare
• To determine organisational barriers for women leaders in developed world within health care industry.

Research questions

Main research question of this research is: “What are the key barriers for women to have leadership role in Healthcare Organizations”.

Scope

The research outcomes are useful for the health care service providers to understand the importance of gender equality at workplace. It will also assist them to identify various challenges which are experienced by women leaders at workplace  (White, Pillay and Huang, 2016). Thus analysis and study results will help health care service providers to improve the service quality and organisational environment. It is beneficial for improving the health outcomes of community (Hill and et.al., 2016). In addition to this the research can also be used by other scholars or researchers who aims to promote the women empowerment and condition of women in organisational or leadership aspect (Davidson and Burke, 2016). Another significant aspect of the study is that it will assist researchers to explore loop holes in women empowerment in developed countries which still need several improvements to support women leadership in health care services.

Significance

Developed countries seems to have more empowered women which is reflected through increased participation of women workforce. However, when it comes to leadership women are still considered less suitable and experiences a vast range of challenges in organisation. Health care service quality can be improved by ensuring the equal contribution of women workforce (Mate,  McDonald and Do, 2018). Thus analysis of organisational barriers to women leadership not only supports women empowerment but also enhances the service quality (Lega, Prenestini and Rosso, 2017). Women plays active role in health care in variety of job roles but gender bias in leadership affect their efficiency, equality rights, development and growth opportunities.

Thus it is very crucial to assess the organisational factors which affect the women leadership and make it more complex as compare to that of men. Health care services are for community and thus there is no role of any kind of discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion or economic factor (Alabdulhadi, Schyns and Staudigl, 2017). This essential part of the service can be incorporated into practice only when women are also provided equal opportunity to lead  and excel in the service industry. Thus, the study will help to identify the relevant barriers and to propose suitable solutions which can allow skilled leaders to grow and excel in their field (O'Neil, Fleury and Foresti, 2016). The study is crucial in shaping or improving gender power relations so that it can be improved to update the service quality.

Dissertation structure

For the sake of reducing complexity and making work more organised dissertation is divided in five chapters:

Chapter 1: The first chapter is introduction and it will provide the brief background and literature review of the chosen topic. On the basis of this literature review this chapter will also give the research aim and objectives.

Chapter 2: Second chapter is research methods which describes the approaches used for data collection and analysis. It will also include the justification for the chosen research methods.

Chapter 3: In the third chapter suitable themes will be used to discuss the result of the analysed data.

Chapter 4: This chapter will provide a critical discussion of the final themes so that research questions can be answered.

Chapter 5: The last chapter of the dissertation will be of conclusion. In this chapter key lessons and findings gained from the study will be evaluated. The chapter will also conclude the limitations and future opportunities related to research study.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODS

In order to conduct research in a systematic way, it is necessary to define various methods that will be used. It gives an overview to user that what methods have been used. Also, it becomes easy for the researcher to process further in step by step way. A research methodology is a complete framework in which different methods are analyzed (Stapenhurst, 2020). So, by reviewing the methods, researcher can easily identify which method he or she has used. Through that it becomes easy to conduct study. Likewise, in study the methodology is described as :-

Search procedures

It is a process of searching data and information through keywords. Through this, it becomes easy to analyse data easily as keywords are related to research question. Here, research topic is narrowed and then data is collected. However, there are certain steps which is followed in search procedure. It begins from identifying topic and end at citing resources. So, scholar collect secondary data and then gather relevant and crucial info only through it. If keyword is determined than it is easy to analyse whether data is relevant in that particular article or not. Moreover, it is easy to search articles through keywords (Sharif and et.al., 2020). For present study, the keywords identified are :- Organisational barriers for women leadership in healthcare sector.

Moreover, scholar will search database such as Proquest, EBSCO, etc. to gather data and information. In that keywords will be used such as barriers, leadership, challenges, etc. Furthermore, inclusion and exclusion criteria is set in search procedure. Inclusion is the characteristics of topic which is to be included in study whereas exclusion refers to those that are to be excluded from study. By this it becomes easy to select articles and analyze data included in it. However, time is saved as well as info is easily obtained. It also saves cost of research. They are defined below :-

Inclusion criteria 

The review included studies related to organizational barriers in women leadership in health care. Also, challenges faced by women as a leader. Moreover, studies conducted in health care sector will be considered. Only articles of English language will be included.

Exclusion criteria

The articles will be excluded from study:

Before year 2015

Challenges in leadership

Studies conducted in other sector or area.

Researcher done in specific gender, situation, age and many more.

Studies in other languages such as French.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria – research design

Studies will be excluded if there is not particular research design used.

Mixed method will also be excluded.

Systematic review method will be excluded as well.

Included studies – qualitative

Questionnaire

Survey method

Interview

Quality appraisal

It is a method where the quality of article that is collected is examined. This enables in analysing them and evaluating them ((Huaizhen, Tianzhong and Lili, 2020). For this certain quality standards are set and then articles are measured. Quality standards helps in setting minimum standards to accept that article in such a way. So, on basis of it, those articles are eliminated that have not met the standards. Similarly, in certain quality appraisal criteria which are as follows :-

Is aims and objectives are clearly stated in article?

Is the research design and methodology is defined and aims and objectives as well as research questions are included in it or not?

Does scholar provide findings of research in effective way or not?

Are the research methods clearly stated along with its justification?

Is data interpretation and findings clearly described in article?

A = 5 (all criteria is satisfied)

B = 4 (only 4 criteria is satisfied)

C = 3 (only 3 criteria is satisfied)

D = 2 (only 2 criteria is satisfied)

E = 1 (only 1 criteria is satisfied)

F = 0 (no criteria is satisfied)

Paper selection

In research the articles are selected to gather secondary data. So, for it initial screening of article in database. At initial stage the paper is selected by reading articles abstract. Thus, 20 papers will be screened by reading the abstract. From that inclusion and exclusion criteria is taken into consideration. Now, out of 20, 10 articles will be fully read. It is an important par of a research study as it helps in selecting quality and relevant research papers

Data collection

For scholar it is essential to gather relevant and precise data so that research outcomes are achieved. The data gathered has to be authentic and accurate. It allows researcher to analyse data from various sources and generate relevant results (Aggarwal, Bhatia and Pandey, 2020). Primary and secondary data are two methods. Fresh data is gathered in primary one via various methods such as survey, questionnaire, etc. in secondary, previous data is collected and analysed. Data needs to be gathered in accurate way to answer research question. Primary data is one of the most important data required in a research study as it helps in building a base of a research study which further helps in exploring the research area in a much better and effective manner. In current study scholar will use only secondary data collection method. Here, previous data will be gathered from journals, articles, etc. All the secondary data will be collected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criterial and as per the paper selection criteria and inclusion, exclusion criteria only 10 papers has been selected.

Data analysis

This is the most important element in present study as overall results are based on this. It is a process of interpreting and analysing data to obtain the precise information. The researcher must be able to analyse data in an effective way so that aim and objectives will be effectually attained (Makarem, 2016). Moreover, to get the desired outcomes, proper analysis technique must be used. In order to interpret data, there will be various tools and techniques as well as methods available. The selection of data analysis techniques also depends on the nature and information collection method. It requires a deep understanding of various analysis tools to interpret data. Here, thematic analysis under qualitative data analysis method has been used which will provide more accurate and specific outcomes. This is mainly because thematic analysis of data helps making themes of all the data that comes under same group.  Thematic analysis done will be helping in exploring male domination in healthcare sector, career progression of women in healthcare sector, barriers have by women leaders in this sector etc.

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS

Understand the current status of women leadership in healthcare sectors

As per the view of Kalaitzi and et.al., (2017) women leadership in healthcare sector has remained stagnant. Women comprise an estimated 70 percent of the 43 million health care employees around the world. They are overwhelmingly the decision makers for meeting the health needs of their families, making four-fifths of health purchases. It has been analysed and interpreted by author that women are engaged in taking active participation in leading the health care unit. International monetary fund and the various other organizations has also analysed the better outcome when more women and diversity in leadership is been implemented. This also results in better financial performance of the health care units.

In the opinion of Sharif and et.al., (2020) the health care sector is one unique sector in which then majority of people who are employed is women. But there are also various factors that has limited their growth aspects. Factors such as occupational segregation, underlying biases and power dynamics are being a majority of health care unit. These barriers have limited their career development. It has been analysed by the researchers these challenges also limit the growth of women in health care sector. It has also been analysed by the author women also seek problem in becoming the prominent leader because of the less confidence. They have a less control over the decisions made by them.

In accordance with Makarem, (2016) the human capital index has put their efforts in order to ensure that the health care sector has laid focus on serving both men and women by giving them access to both quality care and quality employment. It has been analysed by the author that female consists of 70 percent of 43 million workers in the global health care industry. It has been interpreted that women leadership in health care sector is higher than their share of employment in global economy. Women are being considered as the backbone to provide support to care givers of sick relative, members of community and children who are home alone. They have been classified as prominent leader more than men. It has also been analysed that the technology aspects undertaken in health care industry are being developed by men. Women represent only 10 percent of CEOs of funded digital health care startups and 12 percent of digital health Venture

As per the view of Kalaitzi and et.al., (2017) the reality has been overlooked, despite of women has the majority participation in health care industry, they are being under-represented in the senior leadership rank in health care sector. It has been analysed that all the senior position in this industry is been hold up by men. Presence of women in senior and executive leadership differs by the country and region. It is also affected by the fact whether the female is working in private or public health care unit. World economic forum has given up the fact that 35% of the roles in leadership in global economy is been possess by females. 191 countries have also reviewed that 51% has female health ministers.

Male Dominance

According to the view of Aarnio, Kulmala and Olsson, (2018) Women has always been dominated by male in almost all the sectors but in healthcare sector it is completely opposite of this. According to world health organization reports it has been identified that 45 percent of healthcare organization’s leaders are men and 55 percent of organizations have women leaders. However, if employment ration is seen then 70 percent of employees in the world are women. From this it can be clearly said that in healthcare sector women dominance is much higher. Not only this, in many organizations more than 60 percent of decision-making authorities are women only and only 40 percent of decision-making authorities are men. (Aarnio, Kulmala and Olsson, 2018). Women are everywhere in healthcare sector if lower designation post are seen or top-level leaders are considered male dominance in this sector is much lower. But in case of earning it is completely opposite i.e. if earning or salaries of male and female employees or leaders are compared then male employees earn way better and more as compared to female employees. Male doctors or male healthcare employees earn 20-25 percent more as compared to female doctors or employees.

As per the view of Craymah, Oppong and Tuoyire, (2017) if number of leaders of employees are compared then definitely women dominance in healthcare is high but if salaries of earning of men and women in healthcare are compared then definitely male dominance in healthcare sector is much higher. From healthcare perspective it is quite demotivating for women as they are paid much less as compared to men for the same post/designation. This is not because of lack of education but it is mainly because gender discrimination still exists in health care sector. According to a survey it was observed that more than 50 percent of women thinks that this difference exist because lack of respect and gender inequality still exist and especially in healthcare sector it is one of the biggest challenges because of which women face difficulty in competing with men in terms of salaries. It is one of the main barriers because of which women face many difficulties in maintaining their dominance in this healthcare sector. As cited by Craymah, Oppong and Tuoyire, (2017) further explains that because of these challenges’ women takes much longer time period as compared to men in order to reach to a leadership position.

As cited by Pines, Jones and Sheeran, (2019) further explains that, at top leadership position less gender diversity exist. There are more than 33 percent top designations or leadership post in a healthcare organization but out of those 33 percent only 13 percent women are at leadership position equant to men. As per Pines, Jones and Sheeran, (2019) Out of 100 more than 78 percent of women choose career path as a leader in healthcare organizations. So, it can be said that some way or the other women dominance in healthcare sector is less as compared to men i.e. male dominance in healthcare organizations is high in one way or the other. This dominance not just affect women but it also affects overall organization and the manner in which functions of healthcare organizations operate. This further affects representation of funding’s or foundation of an organization or the manner in which an organization is lead. Men/Women at leadership position also affect further opportunities for women employees working within an organization. People at top representatives of an organizations or top management team members of an organization can directly affect financial performance of an organization and women representation of an organization.

Career Progression

In accordance with Henkel, (2017)Women are proving their dominance in the healthcare sector which have increased the efficiency of the industry and provided better services to patients. The women are majorly provided the nurse job in the health care industry and man have the priority to be managers and also help the industry to grow. Women are having less decision-making power even though the dominance of women in the industry is large but few men control all the women and discourages the gender equality.

As per the view of Buzuzi, Chandiwana and Munyati, (2016) Healthcare industry have changed and women are now given chances to excel more than just nursing and doing the easy jobs. Opportunities for women have also increased which have motivated them to increase their skills and knowledge to maintain the quality of healthcare industry and provide a better confidence which not only the men can do but also women can achieve effectively (Kunze and Miller, 2017). As per the survey only 4 percent of CEO are women of healthcare industry and rest are men but this figure is getting down due to change in culture and trends. The main reason is the change in the laws which helped women to be independent and fight for their rights to achieve success in career.

According to Kirai and Kobia (2018) women are foal oriented which are more effective in handling the patients and also growing health care units to increase profitability. Me Too movement also helped Women to increase the efficiency and provided the opportunities to increase the career planning in health care Industry. Skills and knowledge of women are comparatively increased which also helped the ratio of Women ratio increased  with comparison of men. Women also have the better sense of understanding and provide the better quality d services which the organization is understanding gradually and appointing women instead of men as their CEO and executives.

In contrary Sanderson and Whitehead, (2016) Women also have increase the opportunity to increase their career goals from nurse to head nurse and also if they have knowledge and skills they can also be head in management. 33% women are appointed in management the remaining are still men (Howe-Walsh and Turnbull, 2016). As patients are also satisfied in the health care units which are operated by women which have the better understanding about the sensitive areas which can increase the quality of services provided by to patients. Where male executive are more focused on profitability of the organization and are more professional in treating patients which decreases effective communication with the employees and also decreases efficiency of health care organization. Women also have supported one another to grow their career as males or more dominant and do not want female to be as good as they are. Males also discriminate the worm in the basis of gender in every level of managers and employees with the rise of women it also has decreased the harassment cases and created balance between male and female workers in Healthcare industry. Women also need to make strategic planning of their career to increase the growth and also achieve the skills and knowledge become more successful.

Evaluating challenges faced by women leaders in healthcare

In the opinion of Lega,  Prenestini and Rosso, (2017) there are various challenges that women leaders have to face in health care unit. People have the stereotype thinking that women can’t be a prominent leader. Women’s occupational choice, their beliefs and values also affect their choice of being a leader in health and care industry. It has been analysed that in some countries there are strict laws, rules and regulations which emphasise that females can’t work late in night, so this factor can hugely affect their career development. This can act as an issue in which women opportunities are being lost in health care industry to be a successful leader. It has also been analysed that women who are working as a leader in health and care industry are not being able to balance their work and personal which results in conflict between them and their families.

In accordance with Mohammed, Bagudu and Lawal, (2018) some health care units also have open door policy, in which there is no place for discrimination on the basis of gender, if women are providing high quality of service then they are given with the position to act as a leader in health and care sector. They are being provided with the unique opportunity to excel in their career but sometimes the only problem which is being raised with them is that they lack self-confidence. They feel that they are too young to hold upon these positions. Also, when the equal position is being given to female who have children, they might not serve the health care sector all time. So, this arises as a problem for them. Women in this has also interpreted that being a leader in this sector involves a lot of international travel and relocation so that they can progress in this unit. For this it is very important for them to have supportive spouses and partners who flexible careers. If women do not have support of their family then this can act as barrier for them in their growth as a leader in health and care unit.

In accordance with Davidson and Burke, (2016) a study has represented that medical leadership consists of social expectations that revolves around mother hood. This can hugely affect the women career growth as a leader in health and care unit. Expectation of being a mother can be termed as cultural pressure which is also the more significant factor that can impact the development of females in health and care units. In this they have to keep a huge balance on their work and personal life. This conflict between maintain work and personal life more affects women than men. They can face situation like sacrificing their career for their families or they even have to sacrifice their families for their career. This can hugely affect their career growth and also lay huge impact on health aspects of female. It has been analysed that for being a successful leader in health care sector women needs support from their spouses and partners.

Determining organisational barriers for women leaders in developed world within health care industry.

In the opinion of Connerley and Wu, (2016) there are various organizational berries that has been faced by women leader in developed world within the health care unit. One of the factor is sexual harassment. This factor is most rampant in health care industry. It has bene analysed that women employees, patients, supervisors, leaders all of them have faced harassment. Even the visitors who are related to service users have experienced it. Harvard business review has published the report in which 30 to 70 percent of physicians who are female and 50 percent of medical students have consistently experienced harassment. It can be because of the health and care industry are engaged in following typical male dominated hierarchical structure and work environment. They have also analysed that these type of environment are not transparent and have no space for meaningful culture, so sexual harassment is most experienced in this industry.

In the view point of Bierema, (2016) the other factor that can affect development of women as a leader in health care industry is occupational segregation, skills and gender pay gap. It has been analysed that in some countries discrimination against women exists and too on the basis of gender. It has been interpreted that men are being paid more than women even if the skills possess by them is lower than women. So this factor has reduced self confidence in women and they feel that they are not right for the position of leader in health and care unit. If the issue related to gender pay gap is not being fulfilled, then this can keep away women from staying in work-place. In this situation they females will opt out in between of their career that can prevent them to have future opportunity to act as leader in health and care sector.

In accordance with Haile,  Emmanuel and Dzathor, (2016) motivation can also act as a barrier for women to grow as a leader in health and care sector. It has been analysed that there has been lack of network and female leadership role models in industry. There are few number of women who can serve as a role model in industry and this issue is consistently affecting the growth of females in health and care industry. It has been identified that having women leaders on board can also motivate junior health care professionals to serve and work for that role. It has also been analysed that other issue that arises in health industry is that there are only few women leaders in clinical care setting, so the other female workers might get jealous and do not provide support to them. So this might affect the growth of women in health care industry. It has also been analysed that networking can be another issue that is being faced by women in clinical care setting, without formal and informal networking. It is very important to have proper networking as without it they can-not connect with other female workers.

Strategies for improving participation of women as a leader in health care sector

In the view point of Connerley and Wu, (2016) in order to improve women participation as a leader in health care sector, the industry must be engaged in implementing various effective policies that can address sexual harassment. This issue is damaging the industry’s goodwill and also making the work environment non complaint. There must be workplace policies that emphasise that any individual who is involve in sexually harassing women will be punished, can support the industry in fostering career development of females in health care sector. Committee must be set up by health care unit who can solve issues related to sexual harassment and maternity leaves. This aspect can help them in providing protection to women and they can serve better a leader. A code of conduct must exist in both private and public health care sector so that the cases related to workplace harassment can be reduced. They should lay focus on that compliance with local labour laws is must that are linked to gender such as maternity leaves and sexual harassment, so that women leadership can be improved and enhanced in this sector. Health care industry can also make use of effective mechanism related to grievances faced by females in industry.

In the opinion of Stapenhurst, (2020) health care industry must also engaged in arranging leadership development and effective mentorship programs. This strategy can support them in removing barriers that is being faced by women to act as a leader in industry. It will also enhance motivation, skills and abilities of females to work as a leader in health care unit. Training must also be given to male members so that they are able to better understand the issues and challenges faced by their female workers. Providing support to women network and taking initiative to improve can assist health care industry in increasing the participation of females to act as a leader. This will develop better role model in industry. They can also involve in making special efforts, so that highly efficient and talented women staff can be known to them and they are also being included in training and mentorship program. This will support them in becoming better leader. Human resource department can also involve in giving education and training to female workers so that their efficiencies are enhanced and they can explore more career opportunities in this sector. Providing training to mid-career women and senior leaders can make the mentorship program more effective.

In accordance with White, Pillay and Huang, (2016) the health care industry must have engaged in nominating more female workers on-board, this can also provide them with benefits relate to business. EDGE strategy has emphasised that at least 30 percent of the members in boards must comprise of women. In order to improve the economic conditions of more clinical nurses, they must be motivated to be a member of board, this will also tap more opportunities for them to serve on board and other leadership committees. Health care sector also must ensure the work-life integration. They must come up with flexible working solutions for clinical nurses so that their productivity can be increased.

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION

Discussion is one of the most important part of a research paper. The main purpose of discussion is to describe as well as interpret significance of the study of research findings in order to identify research problem which is being investigated and explain new findings about the problem considering data or information which is already known.

This discussion will help in investigating existing knowledge and new knowledge identified, So, here literature review and results of the research paper will be investigated in order to reach to a conclusion and answer research question in a much better and appropriate manner. This discussion will help in explaining main research question i.e. key barriers for women to have leadership role in Healthcare organizations. With the help of literature review and results section will help in explaining and answering this research question. In this section all the themes of result section will be discussed which will help in answering the question in a much better manner.

Answer 1- Women participation and their current status in healthcare sector

As per the literature review women equally participate in healthcare sector but their gender makes their path towards leadership much more challenging. There are various society stereotypes that expects work to work according to the society expectations and standards and fulfil cultural needs of the society because of which women’s path towards leadership in top designation of an organization becomes tough. But according to the results it was observed that more than 70 percent of women in healthcare sector are women. Women actively participate in taking any healthcare decisions required by the organization to be taken in order to improve financial performance of the organisation. However, one thing observed from results was quite similar to the literature review, that was women path towards leadership is quite challenging and difficulty as compared to men in fact women almost take 5 years more in order to reach to top leadership position within a healthcare organization.

According to the literature review women are equal part of healthcare organizations as compared to men but women are mostly discouraged when it comes to leadership opportunities because of the typical stereotype that women cannot handle healthcare opportunities and growth of an organization in a better manner as compared to men. Not only this healthcare sector demands much more time from women as compared to men and in order to manage both personal and professional life women as a leaders are demanded much more complex timing and follow tough schedule as compared to men which increases challenges for women to maintain their top level designation and their career path becomes difficult. But according to the results there are various kinds of factors that makes women’s path towards top designations quite difficult which becomes primary reasons of limiting women’s career growth within healthcare organizations. Many times, women’s personal and professional life balance care barriers for women which works as degrading factor for their confidence and lower the speed of their growth within an organization. But one that has been analysed from both literature review and results was that women have less control over the decisions that are made by them and their career path towards leadership positions within healthcare organizations is not easy.

Answer 2- Gender equality for women and Male Dominance in healthcare sector

As per the literature review there is no gender equality in existing social system even in developed countries this gender inequality does exist whether it is in terms of growth opportunities or it is in terms of equal treatment. There is no doubt that in healthcare industry women employees are more in number as compared to men employees. Not only this number of women at leadership position are more in number as compared to men. But women are restricted in terms of boundaries, roles and responsibilities that they need to play in healthcare sector. Male dominance is so strong that they many times refuse to accept women in leadership position and because of this boundary for women leaders get restricted and their roles and responsibilities increases. Due to this many times women leaders do not take initiatives to overcomes such organizational challenges or barriers which further affect their efficiency as well as their capability. Whereas according to the results it was analysed that both men and women give their best in healthcare sector in order to fulfil their roles and responsibilities in healthcare sector in order to provide best services to their patients. it has also been analysed that women leaders are considered as backbone of healthcare sector as more than 70 percent of employees or leaders in this sector are women because of which boundaries or women expands. It has also been analysed that women leaders can provide much better service to the patients. According to this discussion and analysis it can be clearly explained that women in leadership position in healthcare sector are much more capable and efficient as well as faces much less challenges or gender inequality as compared to any other sector. But despite of being at higher designation or leadership position women are under-represented and are not provided with much more credit as compared to men despite of the fact that in healthcare sector women leaders or employees are more in number as compared to men.  

According to the literature review male dominance in healthcare sector is much lower and more than 50 percent women are present in leadership position. Other than this it has also been observed that most of the decision-making authorities in healthcare sector are women and main decisions for organizations are taken by the women only. If women from lower designation position to top authorities are compared then in this industry dominance of women n terms of top leadership designation is much higher as compared men. But as per the results section there is no doubt that women in leadership position are dominating but in terms of salary they are always laid back as compared to men. Most of the women employees or leaders are paid approximately 20 to 25 percent less as compared to men and because of this difference dominance of men in terms of salary is higher as compared to women. It is one of the major challenges that work as a barrier for women in terms of their growth in this sector and maintaining their dominance in this sector. So, asper this discussion it can be said that in terms of designation or leadership position dominance of women is higher and there is no doubt in it but when salaries of women are compared to men then dominance of men is much higher as compared to women.  

Answer 3- Evaluation of organizational barriers or challenges faced by women in healthcare sector.

As per the literature review it can be said that there are various kinds of social inequalities that are faced by women regardless of their position or designation within the organization. Even though women in leadership position are more in number as compared to men, challenges faced by women are much higher as compared to men. One of the main challenges is that expectations from women are always higher whether it is in terms of nursing or in terms of taking leadership decisions. Women are always expected to prove themselves capable for their position. If women are in leadership position then they are expected that they would not commit any kind of mistakes and will be able to handle any kind of issue faced by organizations or any kind of mistake done by them can give rise to gender inequalities or any other stereotypes of the society. Similarly, even result section elaborates same challenge i.e. because of society stereotypes women are never seen as prominent leaders. Their choices, values, decisions, beliefs are always questioned that affects leadership position within the organization. Not only this in many countries rules, regulations or legislations for women are more struct as compared to men such as women cannot work late night regardless of the sector in which they are working. Because of this legislation or rules their career progression is affected. It is a major challenge for women and many times it becomes and organizational barrier for women who are in leadership position. Even in healthcare industry due to this organizational barrier it becomes difficult for women to balance their personal and professional in an efficient manner.

As per the analysis done in result section it has been analysed that Women in leadership position faces many other barriers because of the challenges discussed above such as they face issues or barriers in international travels  or when they are expected or offered relocation for their career progression but because of organizational barriers and expectation to balance personal and professional life it becomes difficult for women to manage or balance their career which further work as a barrier within their career profession or growth towards top leadership designation.

Answer 4- Organizational barriers for worn developed in world within healthcare sector

As per the literature review there are various organizational barriers that affect participation of women in healthcare sector such as salary gap, additional expectations from women, separate rules and regulations for both men and women and many more. These are one of the most common kind of organizational barrier that are faced by many women in healthcare organizations all around the world. Many themes due to these organizational barriers self-confidence of women is also reduced which affect their fulfilment of responsibilities as leaders towards the organizations and many things due to these barriers they feel that they are not capable enough for the leadership position they are currently working on. But as per the analysis done in results section it was observed that organizational barriers are affecting growth of women in healthcare sector through out the world. Due to these barriers their work is affected other than this their networking is also affected. From this discussion it has been analysed that these organizational barriers and challenges are faced by women in healthcare sector all over the world.

Answer 5- Strategies in order to improve women participation and overcome barriers form them in healthcare sector

According to the literature review there are various kinds of strategies that can be used by healthcare sector organizations to improve or overcome organizational barriers or challenges faced by women in this industry. First and the foremost strategy that can help in reducing number of barriers for women in healthcare organizations. Changes within legislation can help healthcare organizations to identify all kinds of partiality or discrimination that a woman working in healthcare organisation faces. This can help in bring changes within healthcare organizations rules, regulations as well as can also help them to increase growth opportunities for women in this sector. Another strategy that can be used to reduce gender inequality is to promote gender diversity and it should be first priority of management of organization to maintain gender diversity within healthcare organizations. But according to the result section, bringing improvement within organizational policies is one of the most effective strategy that should be used by organizations in order to improve participation of women within healthcare sector organizations. Improvement within organizations policies can help in reducing barriers for women and can also help them in increasing career growth opportunities for women. While bring these changes within organizational policies all kinds of issues faced by women within healthcare sector organizations should be focused in within these policies so that these issues can be reduced. Other than this healthcare sector organizations can also focus on arranging effective mentorship and leadership development programs. These programs can help women leaders to improve their leadership skills, abilities and can also help in motivating women leaders so that they can fulfil their roles and responsibilities in a much better manner. So, from this discussion it can be said that there are various kinds of strategies that can be used by organizations to improve position of women in healthcare sector.

So, from the above discussion it has been analysed that there are various kinds of barriers and challenges that are faced by women leaders in healthcare sector organizations. Many of these barriers and challenges increases difficulties of women working in healthcare sector and also makes it difficult for them to grow within their careers. It is important for organizations to focus on these barriers and challenges and bring improvement within their organizations in order to improve position of women in healthcare sector.

 

CHAPTER5: CONCLUSION

 

 

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