Women deans' perceptions of the gender gap in American medical deanships

BACKGROUND: : Women account for 16% of deans of American medical schools. To investigate this gender gap, female deans were interviewed about the barriers facing women advancing toward deanships. METHODS: The author conducted semi-structured interviews with eight women deans. Interviews were analyzed using provisional coding and sub coding techniques. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged during the interviews: (1) the role of relationships in personal and career development, (2) leadership challenges, (3) barriers between women and leadership advancement, and (4) recommendations for improvement. Recommendations included allocating resources, mentorship, career flexibility, faculty development, updating the criteria for deanships, and restructuring search committees. DISCUSSION: The barriers identified by the deans are similar to those found in previous studies on female faculty and department chairs, suggesting limited improvement in gender equity progress.