Women in Medicine: An Examination of Microaggressions and Sexual Harassment at Academic Medical Centers

Abstract

Many women at academic medical centers experience gender-based microaggressions and sexual harassment during their careers. Women in surgical specialties experience a particularly high rate of these incidents, but these incidents occur across medical fields. As a result of microaggresions and sexual harassment in the workplace, women physicians experience a higher rate of burnout and moral injury, have fewer opportunities for promotion, and experience difficulty finding mentors when compared with their male colleagues. I argue that for these and myriad other reasons, microaggressions and sexual harassment of women physicians by their physician colleagues violates the bioethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. I also explore the importance of mentorship of women physicians by women physicians for navigating a career in academic medicine.