Transcript BUILDING GENDER EQUALITY in GOVERNANCE - G

Promoting Women’s
Participation and Bridging
Gender Gaps in the Professions
and Public Life -Achievements,
Relevance and Prospects:
A HeAltH ProfessionAl’s
Perspective
Dr. Ama Kyerewaa Edwin
Achievements
introduction
• Elizabeth Blackwell 1849
• “The Feminization of Medicine.”
• In the US, it is expected that by
close of 2010, females will make
up 33% of the total number of
practicing physicians.
introduction
• Susan Ofori-Atta - 1949
• Similar trend in Ghana.
• The percentage of female medical
practitioners registered by the
Medical and Dental Council in 2009
was 34% (132 of 388), up from the
year 2000 figure of 20% (19 of 92).
Mdc data
450
400
350
300
250
Total
200
150
100
50
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
Female
Percentage growth chart
40
%
35
30
25
20
15
10
Percentage growth chart
5
0
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Year
2008
2010
2012
Annual Growth Chart
140
120
100
80
60
40
Annual Growth Chart
20
0
1998
Year
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
relevAnce of “tHe
feminizAtion of medicine”
• Female medical practitioners tend to
become primary care physicians
• A robust primary medical care system
leads to improved health outcomes
• It may be surmised that the feminization
of medicine in Ghana has been positive.
• Not paralleled by a commensurate
growth in leadership positions
An unsung heroine
• Dr (Mrs.) Susan deGraft Johnson (Nee
Ofori-Atta)
• First female doctor
in Ghana, probably
Sub-Saharan Africa
• 1949
An unsung heroine
• “Kwashiokor” (PML Hospital)
• Founding member, Paediatrics UGMS
• Founding member, Women Society for
Public Affairs, Women and children advocate
• Advocate of inheritance right of spouses and
children - Intestate Succession Law
• Member of the 1969 Constituent Assembly
drafted the 2nd Republic Constitution
An unsung heroine
• Foundation Fellow of the Ghana Academy
of Arts and Sciences, -Honorary Treasurer
• Doctor of Science degree by UG 1974 for
pioneering research work into malnutrition,
"Kwashiokor".
• Decorated by Pope John Paul II Royal
Cross in Ghana, 1980
• Symbol of inspiration and a role model
MEDICAL WOMEN IN PUBLIC LIFE
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Dr. Mary Grant
Dr. Charlotte Abaka
Dr. Eunice Brookman-Amissah
Prof Christine Ntim-Amponsah
Prof Grace Parkins
Prof Afua Hesse
Prof Mercy Newman
Prof Jennifer Welbeck
Relevance
Women in medicine
• Impact of gender in medicine well
documented and must be valued as part
of medical practice.
• Women practice medicine differently
– Provide longer consultations
– Perform longer and more complete clinical
examinations
– Offer more counseling
Women in medicine
• Evidence shows that differences in
the experience of medical practice
are related to patient satisfaction
• Addressing these differences will
optimize the participation of women
physicians in the workforce.
Lack of women leaders
• Society has determined that only males
make good leaders
• Women who seek leadership positions
face barriers and many times give up
because they become overwhelmed in
dealing with obvious barriers.
Lack of women leaders
• Women remain significantly less likely
than men to climb the professional
ladder:
• This involves a complex combination of
– Isolation, cultural stereotypes, sexism, and
– Difficulties of combining family
responsibilities with professional
demands”.
Barriers Women Face in
Leadership Positions
• Women in leadership confront barriers
that men do not realize exist. Myths:
– Women cannot discipline males
– Women are too emotional
– Women are weak physically
– Males resent working with females
• The “glass ceiling barrier”
Barriers Women Face in
Leadership Positions
• Women receive little/no encouragement
to seek leadership positions
• Women face many more challenges than
men in obtaining career-advancing
mentoring, such that they frequently lack
‘‘social capital’’
Barriers Women Face in
Leadership Positions
• Women physicians face more
difficulties than men in
–Garnering help from nurses
–Controlling their work lives
• More likely to burn out.
prospects
Bridging the gap
• Medicine and science have not realized
and are not currently realizing the full
value of their investment in women.
• Scientific and medical careers involve
considerable personal and public
resources, but the leadership potential of
most women continues to be wasted.
Bridging the gap
• This is a collective loss—all the more
unaffordable given the leadership
challenges facing medicine.
• There are both short & long-term payoffs
for health institutions that capitalize on
women’s intellectual capital.
Bridging the gap
• Women leaders are essential to the
effective marketing of a women’s health
initiative.
• Beyond women’s health per se, patients
are seeking women specialists just as
students are seeking women role models
in specific fields.
Mentoring
• Mentoring can meet the needs of women
and institutions in bridging the gap.
–Assist in attracting and retaining women
in leadership roles and public life.
–Reduce turnover
–Help mentees deal with organizational
issues and accelerates their assimilation
into the culture.
Survival Skills
1.
2.
3.
4.
Take time to plan for a successful career path.
Recognize that competition does exist.
Keep going and develop confidence.
Possess courage and determination to battle
the male-dominated establishment.
5. Learn to delegate effectively.
6. Meet deadlines.
7. Develop and exercise the managerial role.
Response of the health
sector in ghana
Health sector gender
policy, april 2009
• There is a general gender imbalance at
all levels of management positions in the
health sector.
• Competent and qualified women who
could occupy higher positions are found
mainly in the lower and middle levels.
• Subtle forms of discrimination exist
which keeps them out of these positions.
Health sector gender
policy
• Most MOH staff, especially women,
do not know the conditions of service
and career opportunities that exist.
• The prevailing arbitrary career
progression opportunities often leave
the women behind.
Health sector gender
policy
• In many instances, staff postings are not
mindful of women and men’s
relationships and social roles.
• Essential facilities in most work places do
not take cognizance of the peculiar needs
of women
– Baby changing, feeding rooms and nurseries
Human Resource:
Policy Objectives
• To tackle the gender concerns in the
development and deployment of the
human resources in the health sector.
• To bridge the gender imbalance at the top
and middle level management positions.
• To ensure that career progression
opportunities address the gender needs of
health staff, especially women.
Human Resource:
Policy Objectives
• To ensure that the design of new
health structures take cognizance of
the peculiar needs of women
–Baby changing and feeding rooms
• Existing structures are upgraded
similarly support other
organizations to do likewise.
Policy Measures
• The health sector shall:
• Discourage gender discrimination and
support equal opportunities for both
women and men.
• Put in place gender responsive
conditions of service, career progression
opportunities and deployment schedules
for health staff, especially women.
Policy Measures
• Pursue the Affirmative Action policy of
40% quota of women in top management
• Incorporate gender sensitive education in
the curriculum of all health training schs.
• Advocate for & facilitate establishment of
essential infrastructure within workplaces
to cater for the needs of working parents.
conclusion
• As medicine faces increasing challenges,
it must tap into the leadership potential of
all of its members as never before.
• Now that increasing women are entering
medical schools, institutions that fail to
encourage and support the advancement
of women are missing out on a high
proportion of available talent.
tHe “scissors in
AcAdemic cAreers”
• The number of
women entering
medical school
has led to the
premature
conclusion that
gender equity has
been achieved
conclusion
• The full potential of the increasing
number of women doctors will not
be realized without continuing
efforts to improve the environments
in which they are educated and work
and the mentoring women receive.
Thank you
• “When women are faced with a barrier – and
it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about
the old boys’ network or backlash from your
visibility – the way to react is not to simply
complain; it’s to plan your attack. Success is
the ability to use your leverage to get where
you want to be. It’s the ability to use all your
tools. It’s keeping your head out and up. It’s
the willing to take the risk, to step up to the
opportunity.”