Fariha Taher
English, Mrs. Hanning
Common Core
The Struggles of Women in Medicine
Did you know the percentage of women in medicine has increased about 47% since the 1980s? In 2004-2005, experts state that women accounted for 47.1% of medical school graduates, compared with only 24.9% in 1980-1981. However, according to Jessica Freedman these women are still experiencing gender inequality and sexual harassment at their workplace. There has been a massive increase in gender discrepancies in salary. The salary of women in medicine is much thinner than the salary of men in medicine despite having the same quantity of qualifications. Although recently more women are becoming doctors, they are still being treated dishonorably (Freedman).
To begin with, there has always been a trifling amount of women in the medical field. Women have always been considered as weak humans and thought to be inferior compared to men. In the article “Should women be doctors?” Lisa Belkin states that more women are quitting their jobs and going into private part-time practice since women’s productivity in medicine does not match that of men. However, others argue that women resign from their jobs because they want to spend more time with their families. In the 1970s, the amount of women becoming doctors was extremely minimal. Jessica Freedman states that there is an upward trend of women in the medicine. In 1970, 7.6% of physicians were female; in 1980, 11.6%; in 1990, 6.9%; and in 2000, 24%. According to the article “Women in medicine”, more in Australia were able to become doctors only because of the growing trend of women residents were letting their health worsen. Researchers’ state that these women were too embarrassed to be examined by male doctors therefore they did not see a doctor which led to illnesses. Therefore, in 1887 the University of Melbourne Medical School began accepting women applicants. However, it was not until the 1990s the number of women doctors in Australia had increased (“Women in Medicine”). As you can see, the amount of women in medicine has tremendously increased.
Sexual harassment has been a major dilemma in all working fields such as, the film industry, modeling, military, and many more. But it has been a continuous concern in the medical field for numerous years because the numbers are rising. Women are continuously being sexual assaulted in their work places and are remaining silent because of fear of losing their jobs. “A 1993 survey of internal medicine residents, for example, found that 73% of the women reported having been sexually harassed at least once during their training, compared with 22% of the men. Only 2 of the women reported their experiences to an authority, saying they were ...
