Gender diversity, a core value within many businesses and institutions, was heavily addressed at the Association of American Medical Colleges’ annual meeting last fall. As an academic health institution, a balanced representation of gender is extremely important to the culture of the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville. According to a Morgan Stanley report, “more gender diversity, particularly in corporate settings, can translate to increased productivity, greater innovation, better products, better decision-making and higher employee retention and satisfaction.”

The Office of Administrative Affairs ensures review and reporting of this important topic to aid in the effort for a balanced representation of gender within the organization, including within executive and leadership roles. Historically, women have faced greater barriers than men when serving on boards and holding leadership positions. Although the total number and percentage of women in the workforce have grown at a steady pace since the 1960s, female representation in key leadership positions remains low. Among the Fortune 500 companies, there are only 24 female CEOs. That’s roughly 5 percent.

According to the latest AAMC annual report, “U.S. Medical School Faculty, 2017,” woman make up 41 percent of full-time clinical science faculty at medical schools, but comprise only 15 percent of the department chairs. However, woman make up 44 percent of decanal administration positions, according to 2016 findings published in Academic Medicine.

Gender diversity at the college 

Compared with the AAMC, the college has slightly higher female representation among clinical science department chairs and is making strides with recent hires in decanal administration positions. Here, women hold 163 of the 257 full-time faculty positions, or 39 percent; three of the 13 department chair positions, or 23 percent; and five of the nine decanal administration positions, or 55 percent. Overall at the college, women hold 45 of 103, or 44 percent, of the following leadership roles: chairs, assistant and associate chairs, division chiefs, deans and program directors.

Although we are making considerable strides, it is important we continue to review, improve, create awareness and maintain our efforts to foster a gender-diverse culture. Broad diversity encompasses many aspects of an individual and contributes to a robust academic environment.

In 2017, for the first time, the number of women enrolling in U.S. medical schools exceeded the number of men, according to the AAMC. Women are now a majority of new medical students nationwide.

“We are very encouraged by the growing number of women enrolling in U.S. medical schools,” said Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., president and CEO of the AAMC. “This year’s matriculating class demonstrates that medicine is an increasingly attractive career for women and that medical schools are creating an inclusive environment. While we have much more work to do to attain broader diversity among our students, faculty and leadership, this is a notable milestone.”