Female healthcare professionals held down by glass ceiling

Many healthcare network members say sector is a good place for women to work, but senior positions are dominated by men

The health sector is a good place for women to work – although many healthcare professionals say there is a glass ceiling, our latest members’ survey reveals.

More than 1,000 healthcare network members took part in the research, which asked questions about healthcare politics, private sector provision of services and how the sector is meeting efficiency targets.

Members were also asked whether the sector is a good place for women to work. Almost seven in 10 said it was, while 15% said no and 17% were undecided.

Members were also asked about the challenges facing women. A number cited problems striking a work-life balance, and others said there was a glass ceiling that stops them reaching senior positions.

“There remains an old boys network in certain aspects of the health sector,” said one respondent. Another commented: “Those in senior roles are men and they are more inclined to recruit men.” And a third said: “[It is a good place to work] With many reservations, eg no promotions – leading to the lack of women in authority.”

Many healthcare network members pointed out that the majority of those employed in the sector are women, but senior posts are dominated by men. Flexible working, generous maternity leave packages and equal pay were mentioned as evidence of the positive attitude towards female staff.

However, some members noted that the government’s NHS reforms seemed to be affecting women more than men, that women are bearing the brunt of redundancies, and that female staff tend to be in poorly paid roles. A number of respondents said older women in the sector faced additional discrimination.

Looking at the glass ceiling from a different perspective, one member commented: “The NHS tends to attract highly motivated women who want to do a good job, rather than rise to the top.”

The network regularly surveys members. The latest research follows a survey earlier in the year, which found that many NHS staff are still in the dark about what the coalition’s health reforms will mean, are unconvinced they will improve patient care and worried that cuts to social care will create major problems.

A key finding in our latest survey is that two-thirds of respondents say patient care is being damaged by the NHS’s efforts to meet the government’s savings drive.

We’ll be launching details of our next member survey in January.