Women of CHIME Initiative Addresses Gender Disparities in Healthcare IT
ANN ARBOR, MI, Oct. 3, 2017 – Approximately one in five members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is a woman, a proportion that is slightly lower than women’s representation in IT occupations overall. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women accounted for one in four IT workers in 2014 yet women made up nearly half of the U.S. workforce. Women in healthcare IT and IT overall also make less income than their male counterparts, a gap that appears to be worsening.
CHIME is taking aim at those disparities with Women of CHIME, a group of CHIME women leaders who share networking and leadership skills with other women CIOs and senior healthcare IT executives. Women of CHIME will hold a series of events at the CHIME17 Fall CIO Forum to help women members advance and thrive in their careers. CHIME17 will run from Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in San Antonio, Texas.
“Last year, we began to identify the challenges the women of CHIME face in their leadership development,” said CHIME Board Chair Liz Johnson, CIO of Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics at Tenet Healthcare Corporation. “Women of CHIME will allow our most experienced women members to mentor women CIOs and encourage them to seek more prominent positions and bring more women into the field.”
On Nov. 1, Johnson will moderate a session titled “Breaking Down Barriers and Paving the Way.” The session and luncheon will feature Lea Rosenauer, president and CEO of Girls Inc. of San Antonio, who will discuss issues that prevent women from career advancement and offer strategies to get women into leadership roles. Girls Inc. members who are enrolled in the STEM program Eureka! will attend the morning session and may stay for the day’s full program. Eureka! is an educational program that encourages students in eighth grade through high school to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
In addition, the forum will offer:
- A women’s golf clinic
- A Women of CHIME Pour and Paint, a social event where participants sip wine and paint landscapes
- Dress for Success of San Antonio, a luncheon with a presentation from the local chapter’s leader; all CHIME members are encouraged to donate business clothes as part of the charitable event.
- A Women of CHIME fun run/walk
- A Women of CHIME luncheon
- An after-hours diversity and Women of CHIME reception.
According to the latest compensation survey by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, the pay gap between male and female respondents expanded between 2006 and 2015. The U.S. Census Bureau found that women’s median earnings across all IT specialties lagged compared with men’s. CHIME and Women of CHIME will continue to track these trends look for opportunities to bring greater equity to the profession.
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,400 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.
Director of Communications and Public Relations