In the mid-1960s, women comprised less than 9% of the nation’s medical students. Their ranks nearly tripled within a decade, and they doubled once again in short order, topping 40% of all students throughout the 1990s. Earlier in this decade, women briefly became the majority of all medical students. This shift is all the more remarkable given the number of medical school slots in the U.S. has not changed much in the past 30 years while the number of overall applicants has increased.

Change also is taking place in executive suites throughout our industry. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives, women are becoming CEOs at 63% of the rate of their male counterparts, compared to a rate of 40% prior to 2006.

In 2005, Modern Healthcare magazine began publishing a list of the most powerful 25 women in the industry. Recent honorees have included Angela Braly, appointed CEO of WellPoint, Inc. at the start of the year; Irene Cumming, CEO of the University HealthSystem Consortium; and Joanne Bauer, president of Kimberly Clark’s healthcare division.

The shift has begun to affect healthcare research as well. According to a 2006 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the proportion of women physicians who were first authors in academic papers increased from less than 6% in 1970 to more than 29% in 2004, although the study suggests this trend may be peaking.

On the clinical side, women are entering the hard-to-fill primary care-oriented specialties at accelerating rates, often in numbers far outpacing men. In 2006, women comprised 76% of all OBGYN residents, compared to little more than 60% a decade before. They comprise more than 68% of the pediatric residents, up from just under 60% in the prior decade. They comprise nearly 53% of family medicine residents, compared to less than 44% in 1996.

Once they enter the upper echelons of management, women executives tend to manage slightly, but not dramatically, differently than their male counterparts. For example, high-ranking women executives are more likely to give opportunities to other women. Also, they take more risks and are more likely than their male counterparts to make gestures that improve morale, such as sending flowers to the nursing staff when the hospital is full.  Further, women seem to agree a bit more than men on an emphasis on wellness care and the use of physician extenders.

The success of women in healthcare is not without its challenges. No matter their career accomplishments, women are still perceived as the primary caregiver for children and aging adults, and they often absorb those responsibilities accordingly. In recent years, popular television shows have tackled the subject of women nurses and physicians juggling domestic and career challenges (perhaps most notably in the first season of the ABC medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” which portrayed a female surgeon performing delicate procedures while also trying to accommodate the acute discomfort caused by her advanced pregnancy).

ACHE data suggests that women who excel in healthcare roles are under considerable domestic pressure. According to its 2006 executive study, 13% of the women surveyed were separated – more than triple the rate of their male colleagues. Another 22% are married to a second spouse, compared to just 16% of the men. And while the proportion of women surveyed who have never married has dropped considerably over the years, it is still nearly double the number of men.

While women physicians are entering the workforce in larger numbers than ever before, they lag behind in other arenas. Although the New England Journal of Medicine study suggests women are making advances in medical research, men hold two-thirds of all the faculty positions at U.S. medical schools.

Pay also is an issue: women healthcare executives earn 18% less than men.  This is a narrower gap than the 27% average among all businesses, and industry observers believe it will eventually close altogether.

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