The Glass Ceiling in Global Health: Perspectives of Female and Male Anesthesiologists

Background: Gender equity is essential for improving health outcomes globally. Despite comprising 75% of the global health workforce and dominating academic global health programs, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in global health organizations. Our study aimed to identify potential gender differences in the beliefs and attitudes regarding barriers that women anesthesiologists encounter in pursuing careers and leadership roles in global health and to identify recommendations for improving gender equity in global health.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey focusing on career leadership opportunities and challenges uniquely faced by women clinicians in global health. We obtained permission from the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists to distribute our questionnaire to their leadership committee members during 2 months (May-July 2022).

Results: The questionnaire was distributed to 164 study participants with 67 individuals (44.8% female) based in 38 different countries completing the survey (response rate 40.9%). Overall, 47.8% of the participants aspired to a leadership position in global health and 58.2% agreed women face unique barriers to global health leadership (70.0% of women compared to 48.6% of men; P = .081). Female gender (odds ratio [OR], 19.22, P = .004) and divorced marital status (OR, 746.26, P = .004) were positively associated and African ethnicity (OR, 0.002, P = .017) was negatively associated with the perception of gender bias in their career growth. The main challenges included balancing work and family responsibilities, lack of female mentors or role models, gender-based discrimination, and limited opportunities for career advancement. Men acknowledged these challenges but reported personally experiencing them to a lesser extent, particularly concerning lack of opportunities (P = .005), inadequate pay (P = .000), and lack of training (P = .000).

Conclusions: Gender disparities exist in the pursuit of global health careers. This study underscored that more women than men perceive barriers in pursuing leadership roles in global health and that men generally encounter these obstacles to a lesser extent. Female representation in leadership positions could be supported through evidence-informed policies that promote work-life balance, improve mentorship, offer equal opportunities for career advancement and adequate pay, and combat gender-based discrimination.