Urgent remedy needed to tackle medicine’s gender divide

However, it’s a profession which routinely requires long, unsociable hours and Kayleigh knows that many of her peers aren’t so convinced they can have both a career at the most senior level and children.

“I think I’m in a fortunate position in that I’m a bit older than most of the undergraduates,” says Kayleigh. “I did my first degree in biology and then went to work in leukaemia research where there are some really really inspiring women.”

For Kayleigh it was role models like Professor Janet Rowley who made her believe that anything was possible. The American geneticist was born in 1925 and was responsible for groundbreaking research into the causes of the disease. When she died last year at the age of 88 she was still working. She also had four children and had worked part-time until the youngest of her sons was 12-years-old.

However, for every Prof Rowley there are a dozens of other women, identified early on as the brightest and the best in their year, who never make it to the top.

The facts speak for themselves. While more than half of all new medical students are now female and 40 per cent of all doctors are women, the ratio gets smaller the higher up the tree you go. Just 28 per cent of consultants are women and there was a point when six of the country’s medical schools had no women professors at all.

Those stark figures are the reason for the launch of Sheffield Women in Medicine. Set up by a group of junior and senior doctors at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and and academics from Sheffield University, the hope is that by facing the problem head on, the imbalance can be redressed.

“We know that there are very few women doctors on NHS boards as medical directors,” says Dr Alenka Brooks, a specialist registrar in gastroenterology at the trust. “In 2007 only 12 per cent of all clinical professors on university contracts were women and there remains a significant underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles.

“Yes, a small number of women do either leave the profession or pass on promotion opportunities when they have a family, but the issue is a complex one and until we understand the challenges women face it will continue to have a significant impact on the NHS and how we deliver patient centred care.

“Ensuring career progression for women won’t be achieve by simply increasing the numbers of women in medicine. It has to be about flexibility. We have to ensure that the NHS maximises the most gifted whatever their background, by designing jobs in ways that will attract the very best people into demanding leadership roles so that we can provide the best possible care for patients and their families.”

The network’s inaugural event will take place today with Miriam Gonzalez Durantez as guest speaker. A partner of international legal practice Dechert, she has three young children with her partner Nick Clegg and recently launched the national Inspiring Women campaign to boost the numbers of women in leading positions in society.

“There is still a lot of ground for women to cover,” she says. “Young women in medicine who wish to aim high should be encouraged to do so. The campaign we launched last year aims to do exactly that - it helps girls to feel free to choose whatever they want to do in life beyond any social pressures or stereotypes.”

There are some signs that the culture within science may be changing. Twice in the last five years, the chemistry of department at York University has won an Athena SWAN gold award in recognition of its efforts to ensure equality and its family friendly policies which include ensuring meetings are arranged at convenient times and proactive career planning for those just starting out.

“I went to a talk recently about the work of that department and one thing really struck me,” says Kayleigh. “It’s not about artificially engineering equal numbers of males and females at the top of the medical profession, but it is about making sure everyone has an equal chance.”

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For further information about the work of Sheffield Women in Medicine go to www.womeninmedicine.co.uk