Perez-Sanchez, SoledadEichau-Madueño, SaraMontaner, Joan2023-02-092023-02-092021-08-13Pérez-Sánchez S, Madueño SE, Montaner J. Gender Gap in the Leadership of Health Institutions: The Influence of Hospital-Level Factors. Health Equity. 2021 Aug 13;5(1):521-525.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/18492Objective: To analyze whether the increased representation of women in the health field is accompanied by a greater presence in leadership positions in the public health system and whether there are differences according to the hospital level. Methods : A descriptive study of the distribution of leadership positions by sex and type of hospital within the health centers of a regional public health system. Results: In total, 74.01% of the professionals were women . The representation of women in management positions was 33.1%, and among service chiefs, it was 24.01%. In the service headings, we observed that surgical specialties had a lower representation of women (30.9% in medical specialties vs. 18.1% in surgical specialties , p<0.0001). By type of hospital , no differences were found in the management positions, but there were differences in the medical chiefs, with less female representation in the regional hospitals (28.6% vs. 39.7%, p=0.003). Conclusion: Women represent the majority in the public health system. Nonetheless, their representation in positions of greater responsibility and decision -making is very limited, being particularly low in county hospitals . Increasing female representation in these positions is a current challenge for society, and equality policies need to be developed and applied to minimize this gender gap.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/gender gaphealth care institutionsmanagement positionsHumansFemaleMaleLeadershipPublic HealthSex FactorsHospitals, CountySpecialties, SurgicalPolicyresearch article34476325open accessMujeresHospitalesSalud públicaEspecialidades quirúrgicasLiderazgoIdentidad de géneroMedicinaMétodos10.1089/heq.2021.00132473-1242PMC8409238https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2021.0013https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8409238/pdf