MADRID, 13 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Only 23 percent of the presidents of the scientific societies that are members of the Federation of Spanish Medical Scientific Associations (FACME), 26 percent of the department directors in the Faculties of Medicine and 27 percent of the deans are women, according to ‘Women in Medicine in Spain’ (‘WOMEDS’), a pioneering study in Spain that contains data from 2019-2021 and whose objective is to identify gender gaps within the medical profession.
Specifically, leadership positions corresponding to four areas have been analyzed: healthcare, participation in professional organizations (scientific societies, medical congresses, professional associations), academic positions and research.
As explained by the professor of Health Economics, Beatriz González-Valcárcel, in June 2021, 61 percent of the doctors working in public health centers in Spain were women and, of the 12 Autonomous Communities that provided information on leadership positions between 2019 and 2021 for the study, a low percentage of women heads of service was observed, ranging from 20.3 percent in Andalusia to 46.7 percent in Navarra.
Regarding section heads, once once more there are figures with room for improvement and great variation according to Autonomous Communities, which are between 24.8 percent in Aragon and 53.2 percent in Navarra. Only 7 Autonomous Communities provided the data broken down by specialty, once more the low representation of women being the norm.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Regarding scientific societies, only 3 had a female president during the entire period 2019 and 2021: the Spanish Society of Clinical Pharmacology (SEFC), the Spanish Society of Endocrinology (SEEN) and the Spanish Society of Laboratory Medicine (SEQC-ML). ; 8 societies had both female presidents and presidents, while the rest had a man as president for the entire period.
Regarding their presence as speakers at national medical congresses organized by scientific societies, it is noteworthy that only in three (the Spanish Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Spanish Society of Cardiology and the Spanish Society of Dermatology and Venereology) the ratio was higher than 1 in this period. “The underrepresentation of women in Congresses is very striking,” insists González-Valcárcel.
On the boards of official medical colleges, the percentage of women ranges from 11 percent in Burgos to 64.3 percent in Cantabria. Only seven of the 61 medical associations in Spain had a female president during the entire 2019-2021 period, compared to the position of deputy secretary, which was held by 38.6 percent of women.
In the case of medical academies, the percentage ranges from 0 percent in Salamanca, Seville, Asturias, Galicia and Valladolid to 50 percent in Catalonia, the most frequent position being that of general secretary (23.1%).
ACADEMIC POSITIONS IN THE SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE
For her part, Carmen Gallardo, vice president of the Deans’ Conference, presented the data on academic positions in medical schools. In this sense, he has clarified that in Spain there are currently 46 Medical Schools, although the data collected is from 2021, when there were 44. Information was collected from 39 of them in the study, which they put on the table that , of the 13,567 teachers in these centers, 45 percent were women.
Likewise, Gallardo has warned that there are only 28 percent of women professors in these faculties. “If we talk regarding associate professors, that is, professors who also have a position in hospitals, only 10 percent are women and, as the scale of professorships is lower, this figure is equalized, in such a way that the percentage of women is similar to that of men in the figure of temporary teachers”, has revealed.
Likewise, the percentage of female medical professors directing doctoral theses (38%) is clearly lower than that of men; Similarly, the female percentage for department heads and deans was 26 and 27 percent respectively in the 2020-2021 academic year.
FEWER RESEARCH PROJECTS
In the field of research, the study shows that women requested fewer projects than men in 2020. 45 percent of the projects submitted were led by women, but the gap was especially notable in some modalities such as clinical research independent, in which only 22 percent of the applications were led by a woman. It is also striking that the average financing of the projects granted to women was 24.3 percent lower than that of men.
As the member of FACME, Cristina Avendaño, has expressed, in 2021, around 50 percent of the 4,377 members of the research groups integrated into the Spanish Network Biomedical Research Centers (CIBER) were women, but they only occupied 26 percent of group leader positions. Also in 2021, of the 32 accredited Health Research Institutes (IIS), only 3 of the 22 medical scientific directors were women, or 13.6 percent.
Likewise, the women who requested and received aid from the program to intensify research activity, which facilitates dedication to this activity by attending physicians, were around 30 percent in the years 2019 and 2020 and 40 percent. cent in 2021.
“The conclusion is that we are very good at working, but they don’t let us lead”, has sentenced the president of FACME, Pilar Garrido. “This work is pioneering and we are all proud because it shows the 360 vision of medicine. It is important to quantify, make visible and promote policies that help put more women in leadership positions because we cannot afford to lose talent”, defended the president of FACME, to add that “it is important that young women have role models to look at”.
