Do Strategies That Organizations Use to Promote Gender Diversity

Attracting, retaining and developing qualified women executives is vital to the success of healthcare organizations. In 2012, the American College of Healthcare Executives conducted a survey of 806 female and male healthcare executives to examine the impact of 28 pro-diversity initiatives on women executives ’ views about (1) gender equity in their organizations, (2) satisfaction with their current positions and (3) their plans to remain with their organizations within the coming year. Establishing a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment, assuring representation of women on boards and key committees, promoting mentorship and providing flexible start and end times for the work day were some of the initiatives that positively impacted women executives ’ views of their workplace. Introduction and Overview Do healthcare organizations still have to work at achieving gender diversity? The answer is yes. In spite of enormous strides made over the past four decades, a recent ACHE study showed that, among a random sample of women and men healthcare executives, women had attained CEO positions at half the rate of men (ACHE, 2013). Using data from both the American Hospital Association an