More than 90 per cent of women respondents believe there is still progress to be made to reach gender equity in the digital health sector, according to a new report released by Telstra Health, the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH), the Digital Health CRC (DHCRC) and CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre.
The Understanding Gender Diversity in Australia’s Digital Health Sector special report provides qualitative and quantitative research findings on the current state of gender diversity, career progression and equity in the sector based on the findings from a first of its kind survey.
The survey which informed the report was completed anonymously by close to 300 people who work in the digital health sector. While more than 90 per cent of women respondents said they believe there is still progress to be made in reaching gender equity, one in five men respondents disagreed.
The report also shows that fewer women respondents than men respondents intend to continue to work in digital health (77 per cent and 90.8 per cent respectively) yet over nine in 10 respondents advised they would still recommend a career in digital health to others (93.4 per cent).
Dr Louise Schaper, CEO Australian Institute of Digital Health, said: “The landmark gender diversity survey provides insight into workforce diversity across the digital health sector. For leaders and decision makers, this presents a valuable opportunity to address the challenges that are impeding a truly diverse and representative, digitally enabled health workforce. We were delighted to be a part of bringing the survey together and we look forward to working collectively, in realising its goals. The time to act is now.”