Title: Leveraging Womenʼs Leadership Talent in Healthcare
Abstract: The lack of depth of women leaders in U.S. healthcare organizations continues to be a perplexing and challenging issue given the transformation taking place in the industry. With the impending departure of the baby boom generation from the workforce and the anticipated retirement of executives who postponed their departures as a result of the recent economic downturn, a significant shortage of experienced and qualified healthcare leaders is expected at the very time the Affordable Care Act is being fully implemented. Women, who make up the majority of the workforce in healthcare organizations, are largely an untapped resource for many of the leadership gaps that will result from this trend. The research presented in this column indicates that those organizations able to provide the support and sponsorship necessary to develop women in leadership roles are most likely to have a deep leadership pipeline and reap financial value from taking such measures. Although a majority of the healthcare workforce—74%—is female, women continue to be significantly underrepresented in the C-suite of healthcare organizations (Dunn, 2014). Figure 1 shows the percentage of women who hold positions in five levels of healthcare.FIGURE 1 Percentage of Women in Healthcare PositionsOnly 24% of senior executives—18% of hospital CEOs—are women. In addition, women make up only 14% of the population of healthcare boards of directors. These statistics were the backdrop for this research study, sponsored in early 2014 by Diversified Search, in which we sought to examine the career paths of male and female executives to identify any differences in their trajectories or backgrounds that might explain why fewer women than men are prepared for senior leadership roles. The study also examined the career paths of women in senior leadership positions to look for trends and insights that might help organizations as they seek to develop a deeper footprint for women in leadership roles and advise women interested in moving into the most senior positions.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 21
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