Women make up the majority of the global health workforce but remain underrepresented in leadership roles. Despite growing global attention to gender equity in leadership, evidence on the factors shaping women’s career progression and their interaction in Germany remains limited. We therefore investigated facilitators and barriers influencing women’s progression into leadership in global health research in Germany using a qualitative study design. In June 2024, we conducted a workshop in Berlin with 20 mid- to senior-level female researchers from eight German universities and institutions, including five focus group discussions on facilitators and barriers to female leadership, complemented by eight follow-up in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using Kuckartz’s content-structuring qualitative content analysis, combining deductive and inductive coding, and mapped onto the WGH Ecological Model. We identified five interrelated themes influencing women’s advancement: gendered socialization; personal qualities, including self-confidence and initiative; workplace conditions, including hierarchical structures and supportive leadership; sector-specific challenges, including fixed-term contracts and international mobility; and persistent patriarchal structures reinforcing inequalities. Our findings illustrate how interrelated factors across multiple ecological levels shape women’s access to leadership in global health research in Germany, highlighting the need for stronger policy action, effective quota implementation, gender-sensitive institutional reforms, and efforts to address broader societal gender norms.

Read more at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-72104-x