There are not that many men who wear mustaches. Yet they hold more leadership positions in American medical schools than women.
In the world of medical research, while males with mustaches are a rare species, females are an endangered species. This is the amusing conclusion of a study published in the famous Christmas edition of the BMJ.
The message is very serious. American researchers have drawn up this astonishing comparison between men with developed facial hair and women, in order to show in a memorable way that the latter are in the minority in leadership positions in medical departments.
Multiple mustaches
The composition of 1018 departments of various medical schools in the United States was analyzed. Each time, the researchers were interested in the people who occupied the position of faculty director as well as those of the chief of the different specialties taught.
When it came to men, scientists noted the possible presence of facial hair, and if it could be called a “mustache”. For this, they agreed on a precise definition of the mustache, described as “the presence of hair on the face, above the upper lip”.
They also drew up a typology of the different mustaches encountered during their work.
Once this data was collected, the researchers concluded that only 13% of the management positions studied were held by women, while 19% were held by mustached men.
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Different specialties
Significant differences between specialties were also recorded. Only 5 specialties had more than 20% of women at their head: obstetric gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, general medicine, and emergencies.
By comparison, men proudly sporting their mustaches held more than 20% of positions in ten specialties. They were particularly represented in psychiatry, in 30% of the leadership positions. Perhaps an unconscious homage to Sigmund Freud?
The mustache index
With these results, the researchers had fun calculating the ratio between the number of women and the number of mustaches, what they called the “mustache index”. It stands at 0.72, the researchers recommend raising it to 1, to achieve gender equality.
To achieve this goal, they offer two solutions: shave all mustaches, or put in place that promote the professional integration of women. One last option they prefer, judging it “less discriminatory”.
Women are more and more present in medical disciplines, but in order to rise to leadership positions, efforts in terms of salary policy and job retention must be strengthened.
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