INTRODUCING GENDER EQUITY IN MEDICINE TO CANADA TO LEVERAGE WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

MEMO TO: Ministry of Women and Gender Equality 

TITLE: INTRODUCING GENDER EQUITY IN MEDICINE TO CANADA TO LEVERAGE WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY.

PURPOSE:

This policy brief will aim to present a Canadian solution to the issue of gender equity in medicine. Gender equity refers to providing fairness and justice regarding benefits and responsibilities among women and men. Gender equality is a fundamental human right and thus should be upheld; however, it also lays a foundation for a peaceful and sustainable world. In Canada, the issue of gender inequality in terms of leadership in the world of medicine is an issue that cannot be ignored. The extent to which opportunities in academic medicine are inequitable by gender is alarming, and possible solutions have to be enacted to curb the gender gap.

SUMMARY:

Feminism is the new world order in this twenty-first century. One fundamental question, "Where are the women?" was enough for women to realize that they have been systematically erased from history, at work and in education. According to the World Health Organization reports, despite women occupying seventy percent of the global public health workforce, only twenty-five of them hold senior positions (Amri et al., 2023). Nevertheless, women are underrepresented as senior authors in academic publishing and pay. Women in Canada hardly find it hard to navigate up to higher ranks compared to men despite a higher level of experience, productivity, age, and even specialty. In their report in 2023, The Canadian Medical Association acknowledged that gender inequality among medical leaders is an important issue that should be addressed by creating or changing the existing legislation.

BACKGROUND:

Canada was among the 193 countries that came up with 17 sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); one of them was to attain gender equality and strive to empower all women and girls through effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels, like political, economic and socially (United Nations 2015 in Amri et al.,2015).

Historically, the leadership inequality between men and women in Canada's medical department is so visible; in 1999, the Canadian medical school made history when the first woman became the dean of students 170 years after its establishment. Moreover, it is sad that only eight women have been deans of science out of the  152 past presidents (Tricco et al., 2021).

Another critical issue is that when gender intersects with race and ethnicity, the general leadership has a broader gap margin where the blacks and the minority secure one or no seat at all. From all the medical chairs, out of ten blacks, only one was a woman; out of all twelve Asians, no woman was appointed; two out of seven Hispanic persons were women, while all the 137 were blacks. 

Women are underpaid and undervalued in Canada. The reference letters that men get are more supportive of their careers than men. From all the Canadian authorship lists, women occupy only thirty-four percent. On a sad note, 34% still receive fewer citations as opposed to the male authors (Amri et al.,2023). Men get support in terms of grants and trainees in that the more the grants, the more likely they are to attract the trainees.

 ANALYSIS:    

Despite gender equality policies being implemented, gender equality has not been attained in this twenty-first century. Challenges such as childbirth, nurturing young ones, and marriage force women to work fewer hours than men. Societal expectations of women being there for their children and family •     Despite legislation being amended, the Gender equity issue in medicine cannot be fully solved since it requires a multipronged approach. In 2017, legislation was made for the National Health Service to publish data on the gender pay gap; however, the lack of accurate, transparent reports makes it impossible (Cohen & Kiran,2020).  

 Men in leadership take advantage of their positions and enforce policies that favor men over women in top positions. 

Gender inequality is system-generated, and women experience unconscious bias in terms of salary, leadership, and specific medical specialties.

RECOMMENDATION

Leaders in the medical school need to challenge the gender bias. Female trainees should not be discouraged from pursuing made-dominant specialties, with extended hours requiring more work. This is because women seek fewer working hours when married, particularly breastfeeding, and thus prefer family-friendly specialties. The hiring positions should be open and formalized, with both men and women accorded the same number of positions to apply. Moreover, the hiring committee should be diverse to accommodate and represent different races. Starting salaries should be standardized so that men and women can get equal pay.    

Also, I recommend that despite the men mentoring women, they should be ready to support them in their careers by sponsoring and referring them.

The solution to curb gender inequality in medicine must begin with the systematic nature of the problem. The solutions must be backed up by the medical organizations in Canada and political and national organizations. Moreover, it should be done from top to bottom when championing behavioral and systematic change. The federal and medical leaders should be at the forefront of modeling the principles of equity.

Women should master the art of "identity politics." Every woman, irrespective of race, should be at the forefront to advocate gender inequality to create a "we" identity. When women identify as "we women," it establishes unity where they identify with each other, marching up for their rights.

CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS

The issue of women being underpaid and securing fewer leadership positions in the medical department is a global issue. All government ministries and policies should adopt Canada's strategies to make women feel seen and heard in the medical sector.

severe actions should be taken against organizations that underpay women in terms of salaries because of maternity leave and those that enforce patriarchy.

Policies should not only be enacted and passed, but they should be followed and working to back up the women's vices on gender inequality.




Annotated Bibliography

Amri, M., Carducci, B., Plamondon, K. M., Mac-Seing, M., Shoveller, J., Di Ruggiero, E., & Monchalin, R. (2023). Exploring gender equality and equity in Canadian global health institutions. Canadian Scholars. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Z-nMEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA29&dq=gender+equality+in+canada&ots=RKmG9547Bh&sig=vx2uxefmKxttkjUAEt4EhwbnIwQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=gender%20equality%20in%20canada&f=false 

The article dives into systematic issues that disadvantage women in the medical field in Canada and globally. The article revolves around women and how they contribute to their suffering in the medical field. The article also criticizes the Canada Medical Association leaders for reporting false data about gender inequality in terms of leadership and pay, thus lying about a situation in the medical field. The authors also fault the lack of enough data to support gender transformative practices and why gender equity has been hard to attain in Canada and globally.

Tricco, A. C., Bourgeault, I., Moore, A., Grunfeld, E., Peer, N., & Straus, S. E. (2021). Advancing gender equity in medicine. Cmaj, 193(7), E244-E250. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/193/7/E244.full.pdf . The article asses the gender equity problem in Canada. 

The article is rich in the history of gender inequality at the Canadian Medical Association in terms of leadership and also race comparison. The article can expose gender inequality as something that has grown deeper roots that need to be uprooted. Some of the authors from the article have teamed up with colleagues from seven countries to develop the solution, thus making it suitable when referring to gender inequality issues globally. The authors note that gender issues in medicine have not been resolved in Canada because of the lack of evidence-based solutions. The article criticizes the leaders in Canada for not implementing necessary solutions to curb gender inequality.

Cohen, M., & Kiran, T. (2020). Closing the gender pay gap in Canadian medicine. Cmaj, 192(35), E1011-E1017. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/192/35/e1011.full.pdf 

Cohen and Kiran's article dives into how to close the gender gap in Canadian medicine. The authors show their powers in writing by detailing the cause and the resolutions of the gender pay gap. The authors, however, showcase why the issue of the gender gap cannot be successfully solved forever since it is systematic. The authors give so much power to men because they are the ones who create the gender inequality structure; thus, they have a considerable role in dismantling it. However, the article proves that men cannot do it out of their will and must be pushed. 

Zehfuss, M & Eddy .J. (Ed.). (2013). Global politics: A new introduction. Routledge. Global_Politics_A_New_Introduction_3rd[1].pdf 

Zehfuss textbook, a third edition, offers a deep insight into issues that affect humanity globally. The book helps answer profound questions on feminism, politics, and climate change issues that affect globally. The authors have different contributors who support the reader's knowledge of global problems while giving an in-depth history of the origin and solution. With 26 various topics, the book uses maps, illustrations, and subheadings to help the readers grasp the content. The authors did an incredible job in terms of research, hence using it in my analysis.