Gender differences in the early careers of health care managers

In health care, as in many other fields, women's occupational advancement appears to occur more slowly than men's. Two main theories purport to explain this phenomenon: 1) the "glass ceiling" perspective which focuses on structural arrangements and/or the attitudes of those who make promotion decisions, and 2) "supply side" approaches which argue that characteristics of women themselves explain their relative lack of progress. There is also another view that challenges the glass ceiling, suggesting that it affects predominantly older cohorts of women, and that younger entrants experience few advancement obstacles. This study examines these questions using a population of health administrators who graduated between May, 1984 and May, 1995. Gender comparisons reveal considerable similarity between men and women graduates on a variety of early career outcome variables, disputing supply side arguments and suggesting that barriers to women, if they exist, become important after the early career period.