Gender Equity in the Medical Profession as a Democratic Culture: The Portuguese Experience

Abstract

Gender Equity is still a challenge 45 years after establishment of democracy in Portugal. The author makes a historical framework of gender equality in the context of democracy and brings together demographic and statistical data on education, science, women's political participation in governments, parliament, and local power levels, the medical profession, and medical specialties. Also focused are the governmental structures to promote gender equality and the way of recruitment/appointment for public administration leaders. A comparison is made with other countries, using data from the OECD. The conclusion is that although there is a high rate of feminization in medicine in Portugal, this is due to the great competitiveness, work capacity, and dedication of women, which guarantees the entry of more women into medical schools. It remains to be seen that men are better represented in top positions and women are clearly overlooked, although the best performance of women in financial management is known. There is a lot of work to do until achieving a true gender equality in Portugal.