Women’s European pharma network launched
pharmafile | September 1, 2006 | Feature | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |Â Â Europe, association, pharmaÂ
Over the years, the numbers of women taking up positions of authority in the pharmaceutical industry has grown considerably, and it is encouraging to note that we are approaching a better balance of male:female ratios within healthcare.
The benefit is indisputable; while women gain from new opportunities for professional fulfilment, the industry benefits from the skills with which women are often credited, such as innovation, creativity and strong interpersonal relationships, which bring new dimensions and insights to a traditional industry.
Support by sharing
However, this new inclusiveness does not appear to penetrate as far as might be expected or hoped. A US study found the number of women in senior management positions in pharmaceutical companies was fewer than 10%. In an industry where nearly half the workforce is female, the discrepancy is worrying.
The challenges that have traditionally placed limits on the scope of progression open to women in all professions still exist, and will continue to do so. These challenges are self-evident, and some are hard to overcome – the need to take time out of work to raise a family, for example, and to achieve a workable balance between professional commitment and personal responsibility when returning to work. However, others could and should be addressed to enable women to reach their potential, and for the industry as a whole to benefit from the qualities offered by female management.
The non-profit organisation, the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), was founded with the express intention of advancing women in the healthcare industry by identifying the barriers to change that women face on a day-to-day basis, and providing the tools needed to help overcome them.
"It's about sharing experience," said Amy Rojas, president of the HBA Europe affiliate, and global HR integration director for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "We know that women have as much to offer as men, and different skills that may have been lacking in the pharmaceutical industry, but all too often we are hampered by two key disadvantages: one, a lack of strong female role models at the highest levels of senior management, and two, a lesser aptitude for professional networking than our male counterparts.
"Neither of these obstacles is insurmountable, and we at the HBA believe that we can bring about change by talking to one another, supporting each other through the high and low points of our careers, and sharing our experiences to overcome the perennial challenges of being a working woman at the cutting-edge industry."
US success story
The HBA opened its European offices in February 2006, after nearly 30 years of supporting and promoting the value of women in the healthcare industry in the US. "The HBA in the States has gone from strength to strength," said Rojas. Since its founding in the 70s, membership has grown to over 2,800, and those of us who had seen the benefits of its inspirational support, and recognised the gap left open by the absence of anything similar outside the US wanted to see women in Europe – for whom the challenges of achieving professional advancement may be even greater than their American colleagues – gain access to the same opportunities for networking, support and skill-building."
The HBA was founded, informally at first, by five professional women who recognised the need for women in healthcare to come together to exchange industry and career information and resources, leading to the formation of the HBA as a non-profit organisation in 1979.
The HBA in Europe
For European women, this kind of support is crucial, particularly given the practical realities of life in a society which does not readily provide support for the challenges of day-to-day living. While American women benefit from fairly strong support systems to help with child care and ageing parents through government-supported family leave and anti-discrimination laws, as well as ready access to 24-hour services and retailers, the same cannot be said for many European countries. In Germany, kindergarten ends at noon. In Switzerland, children come home for lunch, and in many countries, shops and services close at 5pm.
It is hoped that the HBA will provide European women with the chance to share their experiences, and come together to identify ways around the challenges they face that hamper their professional progress. This is done both through hands-on training modules on key issues pertinent to women at all levels within the industry, and via a new mentoring programme. The aim of the programme is to provide a forum to partner women from related sectors of the industry, to help create opportunities for sharing experience, build a network of contacts, and learn from one another.
"We see this as an important step towards creating strong female role models within the industry, with whom more junior women can identify and from whom we can all learn," said Rojas. "This is an exciting moment for us. Women have a great deal to offer the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, and we hope that many will seize this opportunity to challenge the norms of our industry, and take an active part in shaping their professional future. There is no longer any reason why we cannot hope to achieve real success and progress in our careers, and balance the demands of a busy personal life. We hope the HBA will contribute to motivating a real shift in thinking among men and women in the industry that will enable more women to achieve this."
Membership of HBA Europe is open to all women - and men – who either work in or provide services to the healthcare industry or the government, and who share a specific interest in the advancement of women in the industry.
Helen Clarkson, is client services director at Sudler and Hennessey International, and is on the HBA board of directors.
For more information, visit www.hbanet.org
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