Women in medical education: a decade of change

The 1970s was a decade of remarkable growth for women in academic medicine. The percentage of women entering medical school, the number of women on medical-school faculties, and the number of women in senior administrative positions have all increased during the past 10 years. Although substantial modifications have occurred in admission practices and in the general responsiveness of academic medicine to women, it is difficult for women in medical academia to be optimistic, because the number of women at senior professorial ranks and in administrative positions has been slow to change. The challenge to academic medicine in the 1980s is to ensure that women have equal access to leadership positions.