Factors that influence the implementation of organisational interventions for advancing women in healthcare leadership: A meta-ethnographic study

Using a Modified Delphi Approach and Nominal Group Technique for Organisational Priority Setting of Evidence-Based Interventions That Advance Women in Healthcare Leadership

“…What this means is that many of the priorities discussed here, can work to harness workforce capability should the organisation ensure that the conditions that women continue to work in, are indeed designed for them and their life patterns. Attempts to do this within the participating organisation are informed by previous work [ 5 , 19 , 25 ], but also through incorporating both top-down commitment in the organisation, and bottom-up engagement and buy-in at the workforce level, which is in line with what the research says about structural change for enhanced gender equity outcomes [ 53 ].…”

“…Research on interventions that address gender equity issues for women in leadership expose a series of dilemmas faced by organisations, highlighting the disparities between gender-equity goals and their fit with organisational goals [ 19 , 54 , 55 ]. What this suggests is a persistent dual agenda, whereby gender equity goals can never be at the forefront, weakening and delegitimising efforts to facilitate change and close the gap between practice and evidence-based interventions.…”

“…Organisational performance highlights the loss of talent and lack of diversity in approaches and decision-making, leading to a less than optimal capacity for improvement in healthcare outcomes [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. In recent years, the responsibility of change has shifted from the individual to organisational action—on supporting women as a collective group, transforming strategy to recognise the deeply entrenched and seemingly intractable structural barriers and biases in policy, process and practice [ 5 , 18 , 19 ]. A greater emphasis has also been placed on building the knowledge base within the health sector, integrating what is known on gender-based research in the context of setting priorities for implementation within organisational practice [ 19 ].…”

“…Setting priorities for advancing women in healthcare leadership is highly relevant in the complexity of healthcare, the variation across health services and in the COVID-19 era of major demands and limited resources [ 20 ]. For gender equity interventions that advance women in healthcare leadership, current implementation challenges at the organisational level have included adhoc, inconsistent, often unstructured implementation of interventions that are often not evidence based or monitored for impact [ 5 , 15 , 19 ]. Formal priority setting processes can utilise best practice evidence, and engage the organisations leadership and workforce to identify what is most relevant and inform adoption of best practice interventions relevant to the organisational context in a constantly changing healthcare environment [ 21 ].…”

Experiences of Organizational Practices That Advance Women in Health Care Leadership

“…Furthermore, research shows that organizations with the cultural and structural ability to attract, maintain, and develop talented women are better positioned to serve their communities . However, changing ingrained organizational culture is complex and mandating change is insufficient, requiring greater research and dedicated effort in these areas …”