Last year the NHS announced plans to reach 50:50 representation of women on boards by the year 2020. To reach their goal will require hiring 500 women into senior roles between now and then.
Women have historically been left out of boardrooms and leadership roles, kept away from positions that come with decision making opportunities and higher paychecks. Only recently have we started to explore why that is, the actual impact this disparity has had on society and business, and most importantly, how it can be helped.
The NHS currently has the largest percentage of women in senior positions than any other sector, according to a report by Equilibrium, an organisation with the aim to help public sector employers diversify and accommodate employees needs. However, across the 452 organisational boards of the NHS, the proportion of female-held seats ranged from 8.3 per cent to 80 per cent, and the overall average was 41.0 per cent, according to the report NHS Women on Boards, which examines what needs to be done to reach the 50:50 goal by 2020.
Last year Gender Pay Gap Reporting became required by law of all organisations with over 250 staff. NHS reports are expected to be published by 30 March, and a better idea of the steps that need to be taken will be ascertained.
Data from Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, ahead of the official report, revealed that the gender pay gap is still an issue across almost every department within the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Looking at the 1650 full time, permanent employees across eight departments, 1100 of which are women, the average salary for men was 4% higher than the salaries of women. The only department where women earn a higher average than men is Allied Health Professionals, where the average salary for women is 7% higher than men.
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The data provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust was limited in that it did not provide indicators of seniority levels, years of experience, or additional benefits of employment such as vacation days or bonuses. However, such differences in pay rates when women make up a significantly higher amount of the workforce, and taking into account what is already known about the NHS hierarchy, it is reasonable to conclude that these numbers are in part due to men holding more senior, higher paid positions than women.
“It is possible to have genuine pay equality and still have a significant gender pay gap,” said Dean Royles of HRD Leeds Teaching Hospital.
Kristie Stott, managing director at Equilibrium and former health care professional at Sheffield Teaching Hospital, said one reason many women stay out of higher level positions due to the inflexibility of employers.
“Societal norms still suggest that women are the main caregiver, to children predominantly, but more recently to elderly relatives as things such as dementia become more prevalent. Women therefore, once having had children, are more likely to require flexible working opportunities which unfortunately are not always available,” said Ms Stott in an interview.
As such, many women chose to work on a part time or temporary basis, and few reach for or obtain senior level positions.
Of the 287 part time employees at Royal Brompton Hospital, 253 are women, falling in line with Ms Stott’s assessment.
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While significantly more women than men are taking on part time work, women still make up 66% of the full time, permanent work force at Royal Brompton Hospital, and 77% across the NHS, women are still underrepresented in higher level positions.
Ms Stott says many women are hesitant to apply for such positions, for fear of being turned down for demanding too much flexibility in hours.
“A woman can be confident, assertive and hold all the leadership qualities any man does, but if the organisational culture around flexible working is not right, women will not apply for those roles.”
Of course, women do apply for higher level positions, and it is not always a matter of them being denied the job that leads to underrepresentation. According to Equilibrium’s report, Flexible First: Releasing the Potential, “Just under a third of respondents have turned down jobs, a number more than once, because the employers was unable or unwilling to accommodate flexible working patterns.”
The report states that women across the public sector were confident in requesting flexible hours for reasons such as childcare, health, and other caring responsibilities (not children). However, they were significantly less confident in receiving a positive reaction from their employer. This indicates that women see these responsibilities as priorities over their career aspirations.
The 50:50 plan put forth by the NHS aims to have equal gender representation in upper level positions by 2020. A gender balanced board means having between 40 and 60 per cent of each gender on each board, according to the EU Commission. The NHS states that 53.8% of their boards have already achieved this, however that leaves over 200 boards that need to obtain a collective total of 500 women by 2020.
There is a notable discrepancy of non executive roles, with just one-third filled by women. The 50:50 report also states that there is a specific need for female medical directors and chief financial officers.
To achieve this, major search firms within the NHS agreed that they will share candidate information to strengthen the pool of applicants, that programmes will be supported to increase the interest of potential applicants, and training will be offered to governors to assist their role in recruiting to board of director positions.
However, these proposed solutions may not reach the root of the problem for women. In compiling their report, the NHS learned that there is no shortage of educated, experienced women for these positions. Which leaves the question: Why are women not filling more positions?
To reach this goal, the NHS may need to do more to ensure women are not only qualified, but that they are comfortable and able to accept the positions.
“There is much noise in the system about working in a more integrated, collaborative way with other sectors and without doubt the workforce will need to change to achieve this, now is the time to radicalise the way we work to enable everyone to contribute and reach their own potential, as it stands all it does is cause workforce exclusion for women.”