Representatividad de las mujeres en las sociedades científicas españolas del ámbito de la salud en 2014

ObjectiveTo describe the presence of women in the governance of health-related scientific societies in Spain today.MethodsSpanish scientific societies were identified by vising the websites of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, and Fisterra. The sex of the president, executive officers and the board of directors was identified. Data were analyzed according to the overall percentage of women and by profession and setting.ResultsOf 173 scientific societies in July 2014, 41 had a female president (22.53%). Women held 35.45% of executive positions and accounted for 36.32% of the boards of directors. Only 16.07% of medical societies had a female president compared with 76.92% of nursing societies. Primary care societies had more women in executive positions (54.55%) than societies in which the professional activity of members involved both primary and secondary care (35.74%) and societies related to hospital care (27.93%).ConclusionThere is a lack of parity, which is greater in nursing and primary care societies than in medical and hospital-related societies. Parity decreases as the level of responsibility rises.