Gender Diversity at US Health Care Companies: A Prescription for Progress

Women Make Up More of the US Health Care Workforce Than Men, and They're More Likely to Be Customers for Health Care. Yet Men Still Run Almost Every Large Company in the Industry. BCG Identified Six Ways to Fix That.

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Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Jan 07, 2019, 00:01 ET

BOSTON, Jan. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Three out of every four employees at US health care companies are women, far more than in most other industries, yet women are still scarce in the industry's leadership ranks, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, titled Women Dominate Health Care—Just Not in the Executive Suite, is being released today.

Health care companies clearly have a large pipeline of talented women to groom for leadership positions, yet those women don't make it to the top. In large organizations, the numbers are even worse. Among the 50 biggest payers, medtech manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and providers (200 companies in all), just 19 CEOs are women, including just one in medtech.

"Those numbers are abysmal," says Michelle Russell, a senior partner at BCG and coauthor of the report. "Health care companies should be better positioned to create gender-balanced leadership teams. They already have the talent in-house—the challenge is for them to capitalize on it."

Root Causes
The report points to two root causes. First, women in health care tend to work in administrative functions such as HR, marketing, risk, and legal (along with nursing). By contrast, men are more likely to run operational units that give them profit-and-loss responsibilities—and put them on a faster track to the executive suite. Second, the bulk of child care responsibilities still falls to women. Until companies reliably offer flexible work options and other arrangements to help new parents, women are more likely than men to step off the career path when they have kids.

Diversity Yields Dividends
Clearing a path for more women to advance into leadership roles is more than just a fairness issue; it can yield real benefits. Previous BCG research has found that diverse leadership teams perform better. Their organizations are more innovative and generate higher financial returns. In a volatile health care environment, that kind of fresh thinking can give companies an edge.

"Health care is facing major disruptions from new payment models, digital and e-health, and greater patient involvement in their own care," says Matt Krentz, a senior partner at BCG and coauthor of the report. "Companies need innovative solutions to compete, but they won't be able to come up with those ideas if everyone on the leadership team looks the same."

Six Priorities
The report identified six ways to put women on an equal footing with men:

Highlight senior women as role models.
Offer sponsorship programs for high-potential women.
Standardize performance reviews and promotion decisions on the basis of hard metrics.
Hire and promote talent from unconventional sources.
Provide flexible work arrangements.
Measure what matters.

The report also includes insights from senior women at top health care organizations, including NewYork-Presbyterian, Health Care Service Corporation, the Henry Ford Health System, CVS Health, the Mayo Clinic, and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.

To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or [email protected].

About Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with offices in more than 90 cities in 50 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.

SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)