more than 8 out of 10 female doctors have already felt discriminated against in their career because of their gender, according to a study

82% of female doctors have already felt discriminated against in their career because of their gender, according to an Ipsos study unveiled on Friday May 12 by the association Donner des Elles à la santé on France Inter. They were 85% to be confronted with it in 2022, according to the annual barometer of the association.

One in six female doctors claim to have been refused a position of responsibility because of their gender. The most common argument behind this discrimination relates to maternity, warns Étienne Mercier, director of the Opinion & Health division of Ipsos: “They were told that the position requires not having family constraints, not having children to take care of, that the risk for a woman of becoming pregnant and being less available is too high, and therefore that it will not be for her but for a man”he laments to France Inter.

Omnipresence of sexism in the hospital

In addition to these professional discriminations, the association warns more generally about the omnipresence of sexism in the hospital. According to Donner des Elles à la santé, sexist behavior and harassment remain commonplace in the hospital. 78% of female doctors say they have already been victims of sexist behaviour. According to the barometer, nearly a third (30%) say they have been subjected to inappropriate gestures with a sexual connotation or touching without their consent.

These situations are often trivialized in the hospital world, they are rarely denounced, explains Adelyne Merceron, director of health activity at Ipsos. She judges “alarming” that 36% of “women who have been confronted with these inappropriate words or gestures have not spoken to anyone”. Only 3% reported this sexist behavior to their superiors, 27% to their colleagues and 36% spoke about it to people outside the hospital.

Reports that go unheeded

62% of the women surveyed believe that when they brought up these behaviors, their testimony did not change the attitude of the people concerned. 88% affirm that the hierarchy has not taken any particular measure to ensure that the person in question ceases these actions.

Despite this observation, Donner des Elles à la santé notes several encouraging trends for the future: 83% of the doctors questioned believe that discrimination and sexist statements are taken into account better today than five years ago.

To establish this barometer of the situation of female doctors within the hospital, the study was conducted among 500 hospital doctors from all over France.