Women make up the majority of the health care workforce, yet they remain underrepresented in executive leadership. For health systems, that gap is not simply a matter of representation. It is a leadership challenge with implications for performance, succession planning, and organizational decision-making. 

That disconnect is a central focus of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Emerging Women Executives in Health Care program, which helps women leaders build the strategic capabilities, networks, and perspective needed to advance in complex organizations. 

For Karen Curley, Program Director for Emerging Women Executives in Health Care, the issue is not a lack of talent. 

“The most consistent pattern we see is what I’d call high-impact, low-visibility leadership,” Curley says. “Many women in healthcare are running critical operations—improving quality metrics, stabilizing teams, driving patient experience—but are not positioned in roles that carry enterprise-wide visibility or P&L accountability.” 

Read more at: https://hsph.harvard.edu/exec-ed/news/from-majority-workforce-to-decision-makers-closing-the-womens-leadership-gap-in-health-systems/