In this episode, Rachel is joined by Dame Jane Dacre, Ex-President of the Royal College of Physicians, Consultant Rheumatologist, Author of the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine Report and President of the MPS

We talk about the gender pay gap, why it has happened and what effect this has on us. Being a professional woman in medicine (and other professions) is easier than it used to be but there’s still a lot of inequality in the system. 

We talk about the societal expectations that there are on women and the micro and macro changes that people can make both in their own lives and in the system. Changing the system makes it better for EVERYONE. As doctors and professionals, we’re not necessarily expected or trained to change the system, but we need to look up and operate at a higher level. Jane talks about the need to stand back and think about how we can all do things in a better way.  

‘Isn’t it time you became a full-time skiver rather than a part-time matryr’. This was said to Jane when she was training, and it had a huge effect on her. This prompted her to make changes in her life. We chat about how we can be patronised by all sorts of people (including John Humphries!) and how to respond by calling it out with zero tolerance.

Jane’s top tips are

1. Be assertive without being strident or aggressive 
2. Hang on in there – it will all be alright in the end
3. If you don’t make mistakes you don’t learn.
4. Find a non-confrontational way to fix systems that are unhelpful
5. Recognise change happens slowly
6. Encourage women to step up

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Podcast links

Gender pay gap in medicine interim report

Follow Jane on Twitter  @DacreJane

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