Women academics’ encounters with sexism in academic medicine: a collective biography from the Indian context

Abstract

Background People of all genders face sexism in academia and medicine is no exception. One of the key strategies that we, as academics, can employ to resist it is to talk, study and write about it. Recent reports in the Indian media about sexism faced by women in higher education academia have led to the development of policies to curb it. But these measures work only on overt forms of sexism. The more subtle sexism that women face is barely talked about because it has become so internalized in society, that it is ‘normal’. Methods To initiate the discussion on sexism that women students and faculty face in medicine, the authors conducted a piece of feminist research using collective biography as the methodology. Essays written by four women at different levels of seniority in academia, on the sexism they encountered during their career trajectory were coded independently by two authors and categories and themes were derived from the codes generated. Strategies to address sexism were discussed. Results Four themes emerged from the analysis – sexism in academic medicine is a real presence, resisting sexism, need for social support for change to happen and optimism for change. All the four essays recounted encounters with sexism, the different ways they resisted these practices, the support they received from families and colleagues in moving ahead and a hint of optimism and hope for change. Conclusions This small inquiry into a pervasive problem that women face in their everyday work emphasizes the need for a multipronged approach to address it. While the older generation of women in medicine have relied mostly on their inner strength and resolve to combat sexism, it is time that a collective effort by both men and women is made to take academia closer to achieving equality.