"Dating back many years, it has been recognized that women are underrepresented in academic medicine. In 2008, the same year I began medical school-and after a degree in languages as well as my time in the workplace-the BMA published a detailed report on women in clinical academia. Across the range of metrics, women were unsurprisingly underrepresented in the field, including only 11 percent of professorial positions held by female clinical academics."
"For example, in the US, the number of female full professors increased from 21 percent in 2013 to 29 percent in 2023. In the UK, we need to set this against the recent description of a crisis in academic medicine. Medical academics have decreased from 4.7 percent to 3.4 percent of consultants between 2009 and 2024, and early-career researchers (a description which includes my current role as a clinical lecturer) decreased by nearly 29 percent since 2015."
Women remain markedly underrepresented in academic medicine, with historically low proportions in professorial positions. A 2008 BMA report found only 11 percent of professorial posts held by female clinical academics. US female full professors rose from 21 percent in 2013 to 29 percent in 2023, showing improvement but persistent inequity. In the UK, medical academics fell from 4.7 percent to 3.4 percent of consultants between 2009 and 2024, while early-career researchers declined nearly 29 percent since 2015. Drivers include precarious funding, limited job opportunities, and absent national strategies to value research careers. Cultural burdens such as imposter syndrome and the "womanload" compound career progression barriers.
Read at Psychology Today
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