Funding boost will accelerate leadership development for women in healthcare

A major funding boost for the Advancing Women in Healthcare Leadership (AWHL) initiative will enhance gender equity, career progression and leadership development for women in healthcare.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has awarded nearly $1.5 million to the Monash University-led AWHL program, which focuses on research, implementation and impact initiatives that advance women in healthcare leadership.

Advancing women in leadership

• The AWHL has several key priorities, including the co-design and evaluation of organisational approaches to gender equity
• Other focal points include creating evidence-based interventions to address leadership barriers and improving leadership development programs
• 30 women have also received scholarships for the AWHL Women in Leadership Scholarship Program

AWHL Chief Investigator Professor Helena Teede said the funding will allow them to extend key partnerships and continue impactful research.

As women continue to be under-represented in leadership positions, she said an evidence-based approach to finding effective solutions for advancing women’s careers is essential.

“Currently approaches focus on individuals or are ad-hoc and not evidenced-based,” said Professor Teede, Director of the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI) and Monash Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. 

“The program of work builds on an existing partnership identifying evidence-based approaches, bringing all stakeholders together and enabling organisations to make, measure and deliver change.”

“Our partner organisations and AWHL initiative collectively are implementing a range of strategies to support women where they work and at scale. The leadership program noted here is also delivered at cost and broadly accessible.”

The additional funding means AWHL is now a $5 million national initiative with 17 partner organisations across medical and nursing colleges, health services, government and academia.

Doctor Jasmine Banner is one of the 30 scholarship recipients and a Clinical Lead and GP Obstetrician based in the Northern Territory who said that by gaining experience in leadership she can provide aid to her team and local community. 

Professor Teede said participants like Dr Banner have shown ambition to not only accelerate their careers but to transform health services for the benefit of communities and their needs.

“Our communities are the funders and beneficiaries of healthcare and leadership in this sector needs to be diverse. [We need to] reflect on our community and deliver on their needs,” she added.

AWHL Leadership Project Manager and Lead Research Fellow, Dr Belinda Garth, led the creation of the Women in Leadership scholarship program.

Dr Garth said the funding is an investment that will lead to more equitable health, social justice and healthcare outcomes through scholarship participants.

“I came up with the idea of providing scholarships to enable more women to attend the program and to improve equity of access to the three-day Monash University Women in Leadership Program,” Dr Garth explained, “which has been running for a number of years, is evidence-based, focuses on healthcare, and encourages and supports women in their career development and leadership.”

“Past program participants have shared its positive impact on their career progression. It was important to us to ensure this opportunity was offered to a diverse range of applicants nationally – including across healthcare professions, cultural backgrounds, and regional, rural and remote locations as well as metropolitan.”

Other scholarship recipients include nurses, General Practitioners and health professionals from all parts of Australia.