GLASS CEILING AMONG FEMALE PROSTHETISTS & ORTHOTISTS: PERCEPTIONS, OPPORTUNITIES AND STRATEGIES FOR MOVING FORWARD
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
BACKGROUND: The glass ceiling, a metaphorical barrier hindering women’s career advancement, is prevalent across various sectors, including healthcare. Women have proved their competence as successful senior-level leaders. Despite this, there is still a striking under-representation of female prosthetists and orthotists in leadership positions as managers and business owners. This study investigated the "glass ceiling" phenomenon in the prosthetics and orthotics (P&O) field, where women, despite growing representation in the profession, are underrepresented in leadership roles. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the beliefs and expectations of female prosthetists and orthotists regarding career advancement and leadership opportunities. METHODOLOGY: This survey study had two sections; the first section was general demographic questions, and any gender could participate but the second section was the Career Pathways Survey (CPS), which assessed beliefs about the glass ceiling and only female practitioners could participate. The survey evaluated four factors: Denial, Resilience, Acceptance, and Resignation, to understand how women perceive their ability to break through the glass ceiling. All individuals with a professional qualification in prosthetics and/or orthotics were eligible to participate. The survey was distributed worldwide through the ISPO and other professional associations. The survey was opened in April 2021 and remained active for six months. FINDINGS: 110 female participants completed the survey. The participants were mainly from North America, Europe and Australia. Findings revealed that factors like age, marital status, and salary were significant predictors of different belief scores, particularly with respect to career acceptance and denial. Results highlighted that women’s beliefs about their career advancement were influenced by their personal life situations, such as having children, and the number of years of professional experience. CONCLUSION: The study calls for organizational reforms to address gender inequalities by implementing policies that support work-life balance, mentoring, and career development. It also emphasizes the importance of further research, particularly examining the intersectionality of gender, race, and other diversity factors, to provide a comprehensive understanding of barriers to leadership in P&O and other healthcare fields. Layman's Abstract This study looked at the "glass ceiling" in the prosthetics and orthotics (P&O) field, where women are often underrepresented in leadership roles despite increasing participation in the profession. It examined how female P&O professionals perceive their career growth and leadership opportunities. Using a survey, the study collected data on age, marital status, salary, and work-life balance to understand how personal circumstances impact women’s beliefs about career advancement. This survey study had two sections; the first section was general demographic questions and any gender could participate but the second section was the Career Pathways Survey, which assessed beliefs about the glass ceiling and only female practitioners could participate. The survey was opened in April 2021 and remained active for six months. 110 female participants completed the survey. The participants were mainly from North America, Europe and Australia. The findings suggested that factors, such as having children or years of experience, influenced how women view their ability to break through the glass ceiling. The study recommends that organizations implement policies supporting work-life balance, mentoring, and career development, and calls for further research into how gender, race, and other diversity factors affect leadership opportunities in healthcare. Article PDF Link: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cpoj/article/view/44720/33990 How To Cite: Eshraghi A, Safaeepour Z. Glass ceiling among female prosthetists & orthotists: Perceptions, opportunities and strategies for moving forward. Canadian Prosthetics & Orthotics Journal. 2025; Volume 8, Issue 1, No. 6. Https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v8i1.44720 Corresponding Author: Arezoo Eshraghi, PhD, CP(c)Affiliation: West Park Healthcare Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada.E-Mail: Arezoo.eshraghi@uhn.caORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1525-8093
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Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction machine sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Le volet Gemma est une étiquette directe du modèle pour chaque travail de la base, lue sur la notice réduite au titre. Le volet Codex est un classifieur appris des 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et calibré sur les taux pondérés de l'échantillon; les champs sans appui suffisant ne portent aucun appel Codex. Le mode candidate est l'union des deux volets; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont pas des étiquettes humaines.
Scores du classifieur distillé par catégorie (deux têtes)
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,001 | 0,003 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,002 | 0,001 |
| Communication savante | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Science ouverte | 0,000 | 0,001 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,006 | 0,000 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule source (Gemma direct ou Codex distillé), pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».