Journal of Healthcare Management - September/October 2014 - (Page 318)

C A R E E R S Leveraging Women's Leadership Talent in Healthcare Martha C. Hauser, managing director and Southern Region healthcare practice leader, Diversiﬁed Search, Atlanta, Georgia T he lack of depth of women leaders in U.S. healthcare organizations continues to be a perplexing and challenging issue given the transformation taking place in the industry. With the impending departure of the baby boom generation from the workforce and the anticipated retirement of executives who postponed their departures as a result of the recent economic downturn, a signiﬁcant shortage of experienced and qualiﬁed healthcare leaders is expected at the very time the Affordable Care Act is being fully implemented. Women, who make up the majority of the workforce in healthcare organizations, are largely an untapped resource for many of the leadership gaps that will result from this trend. The research presented in this column indicates that those organizations able to provide the support and sponsorship necessary to develop women in leadership roles are most likely to have a deep leadership pipeline and reap ﬁnancial value from taking such measures. Although a majority of the healthcare workforce-74%-is female, women continue to be signiﬁcantly underrepresented in the C-suite of healthcare organizations (Dunn, 2014). Figure 1 shows the percentage of women who hold positions in ﬁve levels of healthcare. Only 24% of senior executives-18% of hospital CEOs-are women. In addition, women make up only 14% of the population of healthcare boards of directors. These statistics were the backdrop for this research study, sponsored in early 2014 by Diversiﬁed Search, in which we sought to examine the career paths of male and female executives to identify any differences in their trajectories or backgrounds that might explain why fewer women than men are prepared for senior leadership roles. The study also examined the career paths of women in senior leadership positions to look for trends and insights that might help organizations as they seek to develop a deeper footprint for women in leadership roles and advise women interested in moving into the most senior positions. ABOUT THE STUDY Diversiﬁed Search, in collaboration with the Women's Leadership Center at Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business, conducted a quantitative online survey of 282 healthcare leaders (125 men and 157 women) to identify speciﬁc 318

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of Healthcare Management - September/October 2014

Journal of Healthcare Management - September/October 2014
Interview With Delvecchio S. Finley, FACHE, CEO of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Hospital Consolidation: “Safety in Numbers” Strategy Prevails in Preparation for a Value- Based Marketplace
Leveraging Women’s Leadership Talent in Healthcare
Pressure and Performance: Buffering Capacity and the Cyclical Impact of Accreditation Inspections on Risk-Adjusted Mortality
Development and Field Testing of a Self- Assessment Guide for Computer-Based Provider Order Entry
Good to Great: Using 360-Degree Feedback to Improve Physician Emotional Intelligence
Career Inflection Points of Women Who Successfully Achieved the Hospital CEO Position

Journal of Healthcare Management - September/October 2014