A gender discussion: Females in Australian GP roles
For the first time in the history of Australia, female General Practitioners (GP) now outnumber male GPs. Data from the Medical Board of Australia found that there are now 19,965 women in the GP field compared to 18,992 men.
Even more exciting is the fact that women now make up the majority of medical school students in Australia. The federal government’s latest Medical Training and Review Panel report found that females dominate many areas of medical study including OBGYN roles, paediatrics and public health medicine.
For the first time in the history of Australia, female General Practitioners (GP) now outnumber male GPs.
Why is this JUST happening?
These reports are promising but they do beg the question: What took so long? Historically, women have been underrepresented in the Australian medical sphere for a lot of different reasons.
For starters, women were often expected to take on child-caring roles, meaning they had less time for their education and professional aspirations. There was a certain attitude towards women who choose a profession over a family life. Fast forward to 2017 and most of these outward attitudes of discrimination have vanished. Yet there is some lingering inequality.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, women in the GP field are paid as much as 6.8 per cent less than men in the same roles. So, while the increasing female presence in the medical world is promising, there is still plenty of work to be done.
How can we ensure equality for women moving forward?
The reasons for gender inequality in the medical field are as complex as they are pervasive. This is why working towards a more diverse workforce is something that will take a multi-faceted approach.
Policy changes and shifts in organisational practices will play a part in this change. However, one of the most important things we can do to move the equality agenda forward comes down to awareness. We need to keep talking about gender bias in the workplace, and we need to educate people that it exists and begin the conversations that are needed to normalise a more equal workforce.
If we can have more honest conversations about gender inequality we can start making more effective changes.
This includes promoting the growth of women in medicine from a young age by providing women obtaining medical degrees in university with the right female mentors and sponsoring workshops for females entering the workforce. But it also means just talking about the realities of gender inequality in our own hospitals and medical facilities. If we can have more honest conversations we can start making more effective changes.
The fact that women now outnumber men in the GP space is a testament to how far we’ve come, but there’s more work to be done. Together, we can work towards a more equal medical field.
