EFE | Madrid – December 21, 2022
The Medicine is a feminized professionbut women just represent between 20 and the 30 % of the leadership positions as heads of service or section, presidencies of scientific societies or deaneries. Also, they lead fewer projects, which, moreover, are less well financed.
These are some of the data from the study «Women in Medicine in Spain (Womeds)»a pioneering project promoted by the Federation of Spanish Medical Scientific Associations (Facme) to identify the gender gap in the medical profession in Spain, explained at a press conference its president, Pilar Garrido.
For this, the project has analyzed the leadership positions during the period 2019-2021 in four areas and with the data provided by 12 communities, which represent 70% of the population: healthcare, stake in professional organizations (scientific societies, medical congresses, professional associations), academic positions e research.
Neither bosses nor presidents
Regarding the first area, the research, which is pending publication in a scientific journal, reveals that in June 2021, the 61 % of the doctors who worked in public health centers in Spain they were women; however, the percentage of female bosses of service moved between the 20,3 % of Andalusia and the 46,7 % of Navarre.
The bias is not so pronounced in the headquarters of sectiona job not so visible like the previous one, but it does show “figures with room for improvement” and variation according to the community. These are located between 24.8% of Aragon and 53.2%, has shelled Beatriz González López-ValcárcelProfessor of Health Economics.
Only 7 autonomies provided data broken down by specialty, and once again “the great variability and the little female representation».
The same is seen in the professional organizations: solo 3 scientific societies of the 46 that make up Facme had a Chairwoman in the 2019-2021 triennium -the Spanish Society of Clinical Pharmacology (SEFC), the Spanish Society of Endocrinology (SEEN) and the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC-ML)- and 8 of both sexes. In the rest, they were men.
Underrepresented in the academic leadership
In the medical congresses the same «pattern systematic of underrepresentation of women”, so that the ratio of speakers was greater than 1 only in three -those organized by the Spanish Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Spanish Society of Cardiology and the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology-.
For their part, the boards of directors of the official colleges of doctors have a percentage of women that oscillates between 11 % of Burgos and the 64,3 % from Cantabria. But only 7 of the 51 they had a Chairwoman from 2019 to 2021, while the position of deputy secretariat was occupied by women in a 38,6 %.
In the medical academiesthe figure varies between 0 in Salamanca, Seville, Asturias, Galicia and Valladolid and 50% in Catalonia, the most frequent position being that of general secretary (23.1%).
And in the 44 Faculties of Medicine that existed in 2021 (today there are 46), while the 45 % of the teachers physicians (13,567) were womenthe number of those who occupied stable figures of teachers (official or labor) was very inferior to that of men, especially in the highest.
So there was only one 10 % from professors with linked square charitable and a 28 % from professors in total, contrary to the figures temporary teacherswhere the percentage is similar or even higher.
Fewer projects and worse financing
The number of doctors who direct theses doctoral is just the 38 %; to from department directors and 26 % and of Of gray and 27 % in the course 20/21. “The situation in universities is worrying,” he lamented Carmen GallardoVice President of the Deans’ Conference.
And it is that, less than half -45%- of the projects presented in 2020 were led by women, but in some modalities, such as independent clinical research, that number is reduced to 22%. Likewise, the medium funding granted to women was and 24.3% inferior than that granted to men.
Along the same lines, around 50 % of the 4,377 members of the Investigation groups integrated into the CYBER in Spain they are womenbut only the 26 % of the bosses of group is woman. And in the 32 accredited Health Research Institutes (IIS), only 3 of the 22 medical scientific directors are women (13.6%).
Lastly, the women who have applied for and received aid from the intensification of research activity, that facilitates dedication to this activity by attending physicians, have been around 30 % in the years 2019 and 2020 and from 40 % in 2021.
All of this, as Garrido has ironically stated, leads to the conclusion that “women are good for to work, but not for lead”.