Podcast: Sexism in Medicine

This month Podcast Lead Dr Gareth Thomas speaks with Dr Chelcie Jewitt (@ByChelcie), a doctor in Liverpool about her personal experiences of sexism in the workplace.

Following this, she worked with the BMA to survey UK doctors and produce a report on sexism in medicine (link below). The discussion talks through the findings of the survey, lived experiences of sexism and discrimination and what can be done to improve the environment.

The full report can be accessed at: 

https://www.bma.org.uk/media/4487/sexism-in-medicine-bma-report.pdf

Key findings of the report

  • 91% of women respondents had experienced sexism at work within the past two years
  • 84% of all respondents said there was an issue of sexism in the medical profession
  • 28% of men respondents said that they have/had more opportunities during training because of their gender, in comparison to 1% of women respondents
  • 74% of all respondents think that sexism acts as a barrier to career progression
  • 42% of all respondents who witnessed or experienced an issue relating to sexism in the past two years chose not to raise it with anyone
  • 61% of women felt they were discouraged to work in a particular specialty because of their gender, with 39% going on to not work in that specialty
  • 70% of women respondents felt that their clinical ability had been doubted or undervalued because of their gender, in comparison to 12% of men
  • 31% of women respondents experienced unwanted physical conduct in the workplace as did 23% of men respondents
  • 56% of women respondents had received unwanted verbal conduct relating to their gender as did 28% of men respondents.