Is medical school culture conducive to women’s academic success? a survey on faculty perceptions and experiences of gender equity

In academic medicine, the lack of gender equity hinders the career progression of women academics. This can often affect scientific productivity and widen the gender gap that exists in this field. As such, this study aimed to understand how full-time faculty members in academic medicine perceive the climate for women academics and identify target areas for interventions supporting gender equity.

This study adopted an embedded mixed-methods design. Data collection was done from November 2022 to January 2023, at the National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Medicine. The participants comprised academic clinicians and non-clinician faculty members who were either currently employed full-time at the NUS School of Medicine or had recently resigned. They completed an adapted version of the Culture Conducive to Women’s Academic Success (CCWAS) questionnaire, which assessed their perceptions of the faculty climate across four domains: equal access, work-life balance, freedom from gender bias, and supportive leadership. Quantitative findings were complemented by qualitative data gathered through open-ended survey questions. ANOVA and t-test were used to analyse the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.

Compared to female participants (M = 140.0, SD = 57.9), male participants perceived greater gender equity (M = 158.7, SD = 62.9). Personal experiences of gender inequity were described by some female participants. Participants also raised various suggestions to improve work-life balance for both male and female faculty members, mitigate structural gender bias and increasing support for women faculty.

Female faculty members tend to have a less favourable view of the working climate for women in academic medicine, compared to their male counterparts. This might be attributed to differences in awareness of gender inequity and understanding of gender bias. Findings of this study provided further insight into the perceptions of faculty members regarding workplace gender equity and interventions that can be implemented to support them in their career.

Ethical approval was obtained from the National University of Singapore Institutional Review Board (NUS-IRB-2022-325).