ArticleBMJ open2017
Good practice or positive action? Using Q methodology to identify competing views on improving gender equality in academic medicine.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mentoring as an intervention to promote gender equality in academic medicine: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- [Women in Gastroenterology - Current Status from a German Survey: Why Waiting Is Not an Option].Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie · 2026Article
- Gender representation among speakers at the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists meetings: A retrospective analysis.PloS one · 2025Article
- Women in Gastroenterology: What Is the Current Situation? Results of an Italian National Survey.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2024Article
- Authorship by gender in anesthesiology journals: a retrospective cross-sectional study for Japan.Journal of anesthesia · 2023Article
- Factors that influence the implementation of organisational interventions for advancing women in healthcare leadership: A meta-ethnographic study.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- Ten years of NIHR research training: perceptions of the programmes: a qualitative interview study.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Between clinical practice, teaching and research - a project report on the development and implementation of a career mentoring curriculum for female clinician scientists.GMS journal for medical education · 2022Article
- Advancing women in healthcare leadership: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of multi-sector evidence on organisational interventions.EClinicalMedicine · 2021Article
- Striding towards the pinnacles of professional growth, scientific epitome, and leadership: India's women anaesthesiologists.Indian journal of anaesthesia · 2020Article
- 'Too male, too pale, too stale': a qualitative exploration of student experiences of gender bias within medical education.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Understanding the Athena SWAN award scheme for gender equality as a complex social intervention in a complex system: analysis of Silver award action plans in a comparative European perspective.Health research policy and systems · 2020Article
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- Article
- Article
- Assessment of Drivers of Antimicrobial Usage in Poultry Farms in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam: A Combined Participatory Epidemiology and Q-Sorting Approach.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2019Article
- Understanding barriers for research involvement among paediatric trainees: a mixed methods study.BMC medical education · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe number of women entering medicine has increased significantly, yet women are still under-represented at senior levels in academic medicine. To support the gender equality action plan at one School of Medicine, this study sought to (1) identify the range of viewpoints held by staff on how to address gender inequality and (2) identify attitudinal barriers to change.
designQ methodology. 50 potential interventions representing good practice or positive action, and addressing cultural, organisational and individual barriers to gender equality, were ranked by participants according to their perception of priority.
settingThe School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, UK.
participantsFifty-five staff members were purposively sampled to represent gender and academic pay grade.
resultsPrincipal components analysis identified six competing viewpoints on how to address gender inequality. Four viewpoints favoured positive action interventions: (1) support careers of women with childcare commitments, (2) support progression of women into leadership roles rather than focus on women with children, (3) support careers of all women rather than just those aiming for leadership, and (4) drive change via high-level financial and strategic initiatives. Two viewpoints favoured good practice with no specific focus on women by (5) recognising merit irrespective of gender and (6) improving existing career development practice. No viewpoint was strongly associated with gender, pay grade or role; however, latent class analysis identified that female staff were more likely than male to prioritise the setting of equality targets. Attitudinal barriers to the setting of targets and other positive action initiatives were identified, and it was clear that not all staff supported positive action approaches.
conclusionsThe findings and the approach have utility for those involved in gender equality work in other medical and academic institutions. However, the impact of such initiatives needs to be evaluated in the longer term.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.