Male doctors who over-estimate the number of women in the medical profession are also less likely to support moves towards gender equality, research has revealed.
The study by Australian and UK researchers asked 425 UK doctors to estimate the proportion of women in various roles in medicine and their levels of support for gender-equality initiatives.
Both male and female doctors surveyed consistently overestimated the numbers of women in a range of roles and areas in the sector, researchers from Exeter and Oxford universities in the UK and the Australian National University, found.
However, the women who over-estimated the proportion of women still backed gender equality initiatives, whereas male respondents who made the same error showed “significantly lower” support.
Authors of the study – published in the British Medical Journal – say such attitudes could stymie progress on gender equality in the medical profession.
Study co-author Professor Michelle Ryan, director of the ANU Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, said gender equity in Australian medicine and medical leadership has not been achieved.
“Research shows that despite there being gender parity in Australian medical schools for decades, women only represent 28 per cent of medical deans and a paltry 12.5 per cent of hospital chief executives,” she said.
The research showed it was not only important to consider the true representation of women, but also people’s perceptions of it, Professor Ryan said.
“While we are making inroads toward gender equality, premature beliefs about parity in representation may have the unintended consequence of stymieing the progress we are making,” she said.
“We need to be realistic about where we are, and how much there is still to do.“
In the UK there are now more female than male GPs, and more than two-thirds of GP trainees are women.
But some specialities remain male dominated. For example, just 13 per cent of surgical consultants are female.
Despite progress made in gender representation in the medical field, the University of Exeter’s Dr Christopher Begeny said the research showed there are still barriers to gender equality.
Individuals – particularly men – who overestimated the true progress in women’s representation were at highest risk of undermining it, he added.
“Male doctors routinely overestimated female representation and, being blind to this fact, they are then less willing than others to support gender-equality initiatives,” he said.
“These misperceptions can have insidious consequences, potentially undermining or even reversing the true progress made toward gender equality.”
“When people ‘move on’ from gender equality concerns, it can make them more prone to exhibit bias against women.”
The study did not consider why most doctors overestimated female representation, but it was possibly due to rising female representation and focus on the issue in recent years.
The study’s participants, 47 per cent of them female, included consultants, GPs and medical trainees.
