Men play crucial role in identifying, addressing gender biases toward women in medicine
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Key takeaways:
- A lack of awareness about gender biases in medicine is at the root of the problem.
- Unconscious bias toward women in medicine can have “insidious effects” in workplace culture.
CHICAGO — Men physicians can support women physician colleagues by paying attention to their own unconscious biases and microaggressions, and by pointing out the same attitudes and behaviors in others, according to Sanjay K. Juneja, MD.
Juneja, medical oncologist in the department of hematology and oncology at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Louisiana, host of the popular “Target Cancer” podcast, and also known on X as @TheOncDoc, offered insights on gender disparities in health care and the role male allies can play in drawing attention to these disparities at the Women in Medicine Summit.
“Male clinicians have many opportunities to tactfully point out microagressions in everyday practice,” Juneja told Healio. “If I hear someone refer to a female physician by her first name, I intentionally slip and then correct myself, so that they also become aware of what they said. I understand not wanting to publicly damage someone’s reputation, but there are ways to manage these situations. Sometimes ‘planting that little seed’ is all that is needed.”
‘Downstream care fracture’
Juneja said one of the first issues that motivated him to engage with social media was the clear gender bias he observed in behavior toward his wife, who is also a highly trained, triple board-certified physician.
“I witnessed firsthand these intentional or unintentional differences in how my wife and I were treated, despite the fact that she has more degrees than I do,” he said. “It may be naive, but I do believe much of this is about not knowing what you don’t know, and not being aware of these gender gaps, biases and inequities. We could be perpetuating or fostering things we aren’t aware of.”
A common microaggression toward women physicians is the tendency to refer to them by their first names while male physicians in the same setting are addressed by their full professional titles. Juneja said he has also observed situations in clinical practice settings where women physicians were referred to collectively as “girls” rather than as “women.”
He recalled a situation in which he was dealing with a large company that had always been considered “forward thinking,” and reviewing some of the company’s videos to ensure he could speak effectively about their message.
“The interviewer in the video had two key opinion leaders, one male, one female, with equal merits, but during the entire interview, he was ‘Dr. Smith,’ and she was ‘Lauren,’” he said. “It blew my mind. So, I emailed everyone I could find on the C-suite and brought it to their attention. The company was very responsive and apologetic, assuring me that this didn’t reflect their beliefs.”
Although Juneja appreciated the response, he said the lack of awareness is at the root of the problem.
“They’re training their physicians, who speak nationally, with clear undertones that are likely unintentional,” he said. “Whether they are aware of it or not, they are conveying and perpetuating a clear lack of respect.”
He added that microaggressions against women physicians can ultimately undermine multidisciplinary patient care.
“If there’s any judgment being altered because a clinician is a woman, if someone doesn’t respect the radiologist’s report or there’s any modicum of bias in the multidisciplinary management of a patient, then that is downstream care fracture,” he said. “There’s a need for systemic change, and we can only ‘know what we don’t know’ by being in a place where we’re talking about these things.”
‘Insidious effects’
Unconscious bias toward women in medicine can have more “insidious effects” in workplace culture, according to Juneja.
“When microaggressions or biases remain unacknowledged or underappreciated, workplaces may balk at implementing systemic change.
“Having these inherent biases does set the tone for things to then build later, when it comes to introducing policies or pointing out issues,” he said. “It can cause resistance to introducing policy-based or systemic approaches when these undertones are underappreciated or not recognized.”
Pay inequality is also an issue that is not being given due recognition, even in the face of clear evidence, Juneja added.
“Equal pay for the same service is the most evident metric, and although geographic details might justify why one surgeon is paid more than others, these disparities are still accepted regardless of geographic or institutional location,” he said. “Clearly, this is statistically significant. Even when we use the same evidence-based, objective data that we all stand on professionally, there’s still somehow an argument about whether there’s a gap or equity issue there.”
Although closing the gap on gender disparities still has a long way to go, Juneja said he is hopeful that vocal male allies will remain devoted to this important cause.
“Having a conference like the Women in Medicine Summit can help us appreciate what can be done, not just on an educational level or an awareness front, but policy-wise, and bill-wise,” he said. “The key is to keep recognizing and identifying existing gaps and biases — including our own — that are truly limiting someone else’s professional success.”
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Juneja SK, et al. Talk and Q&A: Innovative Allyship. Presented at: Women in Medicine Summit; Sept. 13-14, 2024; Chicago.
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