Gendered Innovations In Hospital Workforce Management: A Scoping Study

An increasing scarcity of health human resources in Europe calls for innovations in hospital management and workforce governance, yet policy interventions and measurements are mainly concerned with costs. In this paper we introduce an approach of ‘gendered innovations’ that brings both the gendered nature of the professional groups and their importance as the backbone of healthcare systems into perspective. The aim is to explore gender-sensitive forms of managing the clinical workforce, especially medicine, and how this may contribute to both gender equality and sustainable health human resources. In terms of method, we draw on a scoping review of the literature and findings from a pilot study in a large German hospital. Here, the focus is on hospital doctors with particular interest in the situation during specialisation. The case study applied comprises data analysis of hospital statistics, expert interviews and four focus groups with (male and female) doctors working in different specialties and departments. We develop a conceptual approach that systematically links three strands, namely privatisation and organisational restructuring of hospitals, health human resources management, and gendered professional careers. There is increasing evidence that improving gender-sensitive work and career conditions and linking organisational and professional governance issues may help improving competition of hospitals for qualified doctors. At the same time, the opportunities of gendered innovations are still not used effectively in hospital management, despite an increasingly competitive hospital sector. Drawing on these findings and organisational settings, we suggest ways of translating gendered innovations into the day-to-day practice of hospital workforce management, thus furthering more efficient and sustainable workforce management and sustainability