title: The ripple effect: why promoting female leadership in global health matters.
abstract: Leadership positions in global health are greatly skewed toward men; the imbalance is more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The under-representation of women in leadership is a threat to gender equality, and also impacts the improvement of women's health outcomes globally. In this perspectives piece, we assert that the promotion and retention of women in global health leadership has a ripple effect that can achieve improvement in global health outcomes. We present pragmatic, actionable solutions to promote and retain female global health leaders in this field.
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA ; Bugando Medical Centre and Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA ; Clinical Trials Unit, Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College, Pune, India.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mathad
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Reif
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McNairy
authors.affiliation: International Clinical Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Celum
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boutin-Foster
authors.affiliation: Groupe Haïtien d'Etude du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infections Opportunistes, Port-au-Prince, Haïti.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Deschamps
authors.affiliation: Clinical Trials Unit, Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College, Pune, India ; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Bugando Medical Centre and Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hokororo
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA ; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: I T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Konopasek
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Groupe Haïtien d'Etude du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infections Opportunistes, Port-au-Prince, Haïti.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Riviere
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Glimcher
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
keywords: academic faculty; female; global health; leadership; research