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The 1990s: The Glass Ceiling

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Women and the Practice of Medicine

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Abstract

In the 1990s the number of women matriculating in accredited US medical schools reached a new level, and women physicians made up a significant percentage of the workforce in medicine. Women assumed greater responsibilities including leadership positions, but these roles often came with the designation of “interim” or “acting” and were for unspecified or protracted periods of time and with little compensation. In this chapter, the slow rate of career advancement is examined through the lens of individual as well as institutional factors. The issues of gender bias, discrimination, and harassment are examined in detail, as are some of the initiatives designed to address them that were developed during this decade.

Academic medicine boasts a wealth of accomplished female physicians, scientists and educators, but they are hitting the glass ceiling when they try to advance to full professors, department chairs, deans, and hospital chiefs. Darrell G. Kirch, AAMC President and CEO (Darrell G Kirch, “Advancing women in Academic Medicine: Progress, Challenges, and Hope For the Future,” AAAC News- Diversity and Inclusion, May 28, 2019)

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Notes

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  55. 55.

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  1. The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Lucille A. Lester

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Lester, L.A. (2021). The 1990s: The Glass Ceiling. In: Women and the Practice of Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74139-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74139-6_5

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