Women & Men: The Balance of Leadership in Healthcare

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Katashia Partee Kendrick, PharmD, BCACP

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist | Health & Wellness Coach | Toastmaster | Infertility Advocate | Fitness Enthusiast

20 Women Of Color Medical Students And Graduates Who Matched In 2021 Share On Soon Joining The Frontlines

As Match Day, March 19, 2021 rolled around, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) reported this year’s Match was the largest in history. 38,106 positions were offered and a record high of 5,915 programs partook in the occasion reaching a growth number of 16.7% after five years. This growth was realized a year after the pandemic amid a season that has challenged the health sector also disrupting clinical rotations and testing and creating major changes in the residency application process. However, registering applicant did not waver, the 2021 Main Residency Match reached a high of 48,700 registered applicants with the largest single-year bump in recorded history—an 8.3% rise since 2020—along with 95% of the 35,194 first-year positions being filled.

Amid these moving developments, the pandemic that has concurrently occurred has continued to illuminate disparities that exist among populations of color grappling with navigating its effects. As early research during the pandemic has conveyed, the Covid-19 virus has disproportionately affected Black and Brown communities. And since the vaccine has been created these populations have continued to feel skepticism when asked their thoughts on receiving the vaccination. Much of this skepticism coming from the history of unethical medical practices on Black and Brown communities that have resulted in large segments of this population distrusting the medical system.

The Pandemic Is Forcing Women Out Of The Workplace

https://www.wgbh.org/news/commentary/2021/03/29/the-pandemic-is-forcing-women-out-of-the-workplace

• by: ï  Callie Crossley  twitter calliecrossley

Forty hours a week doesn’t begin to describe it. The standard weekly work hours are the baseline for women working outside of the home pre-pandemic.

Traditionally, women’s combined time working in the office and at home has always been substantially more than their male partners. That got worse in March 2020, when the country shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19. Schools and child care centers abruptly closed, companies sent workers home and suddenly some women employees were clocking the kind of overtime that violates labor laws. Most of them took on extra roles, including teacher and 24/7 cook.

But soon, women like Farida Mercedes were forced to make a choice.

Five months after the shutdown started, Mercedes resigned from her position as L’Oréal’s assistant vice president of human resources, telling NPR, “I made a very difficult decision to leave my role. I just could not imagine what I had done in the spring of being a stay-at-home mom and working full time.” She, like millions of other women, stepped off the corporate ladder — effectively stalling or ending their careers.

To be clear, women’s absence hurts the bottom line. McKinsey's "Women In The Workplace 2020" report points out that company profits and share performances can be “close to 50% higher when women are represented at the top.”

But most women in the American workforce do not work in corporate America. An overwhelming number don’t even earn a living wage. There’s a reason why so many are leaders in the national Fight for 15 movement — organizing to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Women dominate in low wage jobs like nursing home health aides, child care, hotel maids, grocery store clerks and waitresses. Before COVID-19, many women made ends meet by working several low wage jobs. The pandemic made visible the invisible, unpaid work of women workers.