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Women hold a unique position in healthcare: they constitute over 80% of the health workforce yet they hold fever leadership positions. The recent UN high-level Commission on health employment and economic growth cause for action to “maximize women’s economic participation and foster their empowerment through institutionalizing their leadership addressing gender biases and inequities in education and help labour market and tackling gender concerns in health reform processes.” As heads of global health organisations and boards of global health organisations women constitute only 25% globally. Ministers of health worldwide are 31%. Women make up only 28% of Deans of top public health and medical schools. Although women constitute 90% of the long-term care workforce worldwide. Women’s leadership and health sciences are critical to advancing scientific enquiry which can be of unit interest to women scientists foster in the generation of new knowledge to improve health and healthcare. Women’s leadership in indigenous health reveals a similar gap contrary to the women’s traditional leadership roles.
Gender refers to the socially prescribed and experience dimensions of “femaleness” and maleness in a society and is manifested at different levels. Gender is intimately connected to social political and economic status in systems. Women should be empowered as leaders in health. Empowerment can increase participation, visibility, and advancement of women in leadership positions to achieve transformative systemic change in healthcare health sciences and indigenous health contexts. There are various as well as facilitators experienced by women leaders in health. Patriarchal culture discrimination sexual harassment internalized sexism and colonialism, lack of mentors are some of the barriers experienced by women as health representatives. Culture of representation, gender equity initiatives, gender-focused leadership opportunities awesome facilitators for women leadership. Despite women being employed as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare personnel, globally the data shows a consistent ack of gender parity in leadership.