Gender inequality in healthcare appears across the full pipeline: experiences at work, the path to advancement, and who gets represented in research and leadership. Here, we look at gaps in harassment and burnout, differences in pay and promotions, and how unequal inclusion in clinical trials can limit evidence. We also connect workplace patterns to health system outcomes, including maternal mortality trends and unmet need for care.
Key Takeaways
- 34% of women physicians reported experiencing sexual harassment compared with 19% of men physicians (past year)
- 41.8% of new U.S. medical school enrollment in 2023 were women
- 24% of U.S. physicians reported having experienced burnout symptoms in 2018, rising to 36% by 2023; women were more likely to report burnout symptoms (38% in 2023) than men (34% in 2023)
- In U.S. academic medicine in 2022, women were 26% of deans and senior vice presidents
- In OECD countries, women make up about 69% of nurses but only about 30% of top leadership roles in health care systems (2019 estimate)
- In the U.S., women were 42% of the medical faculty in 2022 but 24% of full professors
- Women physicians earn 93 cents for every dollar earned by men physicians on average in the U.S.
- A 2023 peer-reviewed study found that women physicians had 19% lower odds of receiving additional compensation than men in U.S. health systems
- In Germany, the gender pay gap across health and social work activities was 11.7% in 2022 (unadjusted)
- In a systematic review, women were underrepresented in clinical trials: 46% of trials failed to report sex-specific analyses (2019)
- In randomized clinical trials across medicine, only 39% analyzed sex differences explicitly, according to a 2019 peer-reviewed review
- Women are less likely than men to be enrolled in clinical trials for cardiovascular diseases (meta-analysis estimate: 1.22 odds ratio favoring men enrollment)
- In the WHO World Health Statistics 2023, women had higher burden of noncommunicable diseases measured in DALYs, and some NCD categories show persistent sex differences (report contains sex-disaggregated DALY tables)
- In the U.S., maternal mortality increased from 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births (2019) to 23.8 (2021)
- In the U.S., maternal mortality was 22.0 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 (NCHS data)
Women in healthcare face harassment, burnout, pay gaps, and underrepresentation across leadership and clinical research.
Related reading
01 · Category
Workplace Inequity5 stats
01
34% of women physicians reported experiencing sexual harassment compared with 19% of men physicians (past year)
02
41.8% of new U.S. medical school enrollment in 2023 were women
03
24% of U.S. physicians reported having experienced burnout symptoms in 2018, rising to 36% by 2023; women were more likely to report burnout symptoms (38% in 2023) than men (34% in 2023)
04
In the U.S., women comprised 64% of physician assistants in 2020
05
Women accounted for 28% of practicing orthopedic surgeons in the U.S. in 2023
Interpretation
Workplace Inequity Interpretation
Workplace inequity in healthcare remains stark, as women physicians face notably higher sexual harassment rates than men (34% versus 19%), while burnout also rose more sharply to 36% by 2023 for women compared with earlier levels.
02 · Category
Leadership & Representation8 stats
01
In U.S. academic medicine in 2022, women were 26% of deans and senior vice presidents
02
In OECD countries, women make up about 69% of nurses but only about 30% of top leadership roles in health care systems (2019 estimate)
03
In the U.S., women were 42% of the medical faculty in 2022 but 24% of full professors
04
In 2023, women held 19% of the CEO roles in Fortune 500 health care companies
05
Women represent 33% of investigators in clinical research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2018-2022 data)
06
NIH reported that women were 44% of principal investigators on research grants in FY 2022
07
Women were 48% of NIH-funded investigators in 2022 but underrepresented among top leadership roles, per NIH dashboards
08
Women represent 31% of anesthesia physicians in the U.S. in 2023 (AAMC workforce data)
Interpretation
Leadership & Representation Interpretation
Across leadership and representation in healthcare, women remain significantly underrepresented at the very top, holding just 26% of deans and senior vice presidents in U.S. academic medicine in 2022 and only 24% of full professors, while even in clinical research they account for 33% to 44% of investigators and principal investigators, showing a clear pipeline drop from participation into leadership roles.
03 · Category
Pay & Equity10 stats
01
Women physicians earn 93 cents for every dollar earned by men physicians on average in the U.S.
02
A 2023 peer-reviewed study found that women physicians had 19% lower odds of receiving additional compensation than men in U.S. health systems
03
In Germany, the gender pay gap across health and social work activities was 11.7% in 2022 (unadjusted)
04
In 2021, the World Economic Forum estimated the global healthcare and social sector gender pay gap at 12.6% for the same work
05
In a 2020 analysis of U.S. hospital leadership pay, women were paid 13.4% less than men for comparable leadership roles
06
A 2019 study in the Journal of Women's Health found that women in academic medicine were 14% less likely to negotiate salary and had lower starting offers by $6,000 on average
07
Women pharmacists in the U.S. earned a median of $124,670in 2022 vs. $134,460 for men, a gap of about 7.3%
08
Women physical therapists in the U.S. earned a median of $97,720in 2022 vs. $102,920 for men, a gap of about 5.1%
09
Women registered nurses in the U.S. earned median annual pay of $86,070in 2022 vs. $91,840 for men, a gap of about 6.3%
10
Women nurse practitioners in the U.S. earned median pay of $124,680in 2022 vs. $130,830 for men, a gap of about 4.7%
Interpretation
Pay & Equity Interpretation
Across healthcare and related sectors, pay inequity remains persistent, with women earning less than men by as much as 7 cents per dollar for physicians in the U.S. and showing a 12.6% global gender pay gap in healthcare and social work, underscoring that the Pay and Equity challenge is still far from solved.
More related reading
04 · Category
Research & Treatment19 stats
01
In a systematic review, women were underrepresented in clinical trials: 46% of trials failed to report sex-specific analyses (2019)
02
In randomized clinical trials across medicine, only 39% analyzed sex differences explicitly, according to a 2019 peer-reviewed review
03
Women are less likely than men to be enrolled in clinical trials for cardiovascular diseases (meta-analysis estimate: 1.22 odds ratio favoring men enrollment)
04
A 2020 study reported that women represented 38% of participants in randomized clinical trials published in major journals from 2017-2019
05
A 2021 review found that only 20% of clinical trials in stroke reported sex-stratified results
06
A 2022 study found that women were 30% less likely to be included in trials for musculoskeletal diseases compared with population sex distributions
07
The U.S. FDA reported that 53% of new drug applications approved in 2018 included sex-stratified analysis plans (review of labels and clinical data)
08
In 2020, only 21% of cardiovascular trials published sex-stratified efficacy outcomes (systematic review)
09
Women are less likely to receive guideline-concordant care: 22% lower odds of receiving recommended diagnostic tests in emergency presentations for heart attacks (observational study)
10
In U.S. Medicare data, women with acute myocardial infarction were 11% less likely to undergo coronary angiography than men (2015-2019)
11
A large cohort study found women had 13% lower odds of receiving thrombolysis for ischemic stroke than men
12
In cancer care, women receive radiation therapy later than men in 44% of comparable cases (delay observed in population study)
13
Women have 9-12% lower survival in several cancers when adjusted for stage in observational analyses; one meta-analysis quantified this at 10% on average (2018)
14
In a 2021 JAMA Network Open study, women with breast cancer were 15% less likely to participate in clinical trials than men with non-breast cancers (observational)
15
In U.S. National Cancer Institute SEER data, women with lung cancer had 8% lower odds of receiving surgery than men after adjusting for stage (study analysis)
16
A 2020 systematic review found 24% of studies reported sex as a variable in study design
17
A 2019 cross-sectional study of preclinical research found 22% reported sex as an experimental variable
18
Women spend more time in pain and are underdiagnosed: in a 2020 meta-analysis, women reported pain more often (standardized mean difference 0.28) and received less adequate treatment
19
In a U.S. survey of pain management, 54% of women reported being dismissed compared with 40% of men (2019 survey)
Interpretation
Research & Treatment Interpretation
Across Research and Treatment, women remain consistently underrepresented and not adequately analyzed in clinical trials, with sex-specific findings missing in 46% of trials and only 20% of stroke trials reporting sex-stratified results.
05 · Category
Outcomes & Access8 stats
01
In the WHO World Health Statistics 2023, women had higher burden of noncommunicable diseases measured in DALYs, and some NCD categories show persistent sex differences (report contains sex-disaggregated DALY tables)
02
In the U.S., maternal mortality increased from 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births (2019) to 23.8 (2021)
03
In the U.S., maternal mortality was 22.0 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 (NCHS data)
04
In the UK, 6.5% of women reported an unmet need for medical care in 2022 (OECD), compared with 5.1% of men
05
In the U.S. BRFSS data (2019), 8.3% of women reported not having received needed medical care due to cost compared with 6.7% of men
06
Women are 14% less likely than men to receive timely care for acute conditions in a multi-country analysis; systematic review quantified a pooled risk ratio of 0.86
07
In a 2022 systematic review, women had a 12% higher risk of being diagnosed later for cardiovascular disease compared with men (pooled relative risk 1.12)
08
Women are less likely to seek mental health care: 19.1% of women reported unmet needs in mental health compared with 14.7% of men in a 2021 analysis of WHO data
Interpretation
Outcomes & Access Interpretation
Across outcomes and access, women consistently face worse healthcare burdens and delays, from higher NCD DALYs in WHO data and rising US maternal mortality from 17.4 to 23.8 per 100,000 live births to higher unmet and cost-related care needs than men in the UK and US.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Min-ji Park. (2026, February 13). Gender Inequality In Healthcare Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gender-inequality-in-healthcare-statistics
MLA
Min-ji Park. "Gender Inequality In Healthcare Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/gender-inequality-in-healthcare-statistics.
Chicago
Min-ji Park. 2026. "Gender Inequality In Healthcare Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gender-inequality-in-healthcare-statistics.
Sources & references
50 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+28 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)