摘要：AbstractPurposeLeadership characteristics and career development of women in a health sciences university in Saudi Arabia was investigated. This was also extended to leadership authenticity of women graduated from a master's in medical education (MME) program.MethodIn this cross-sectional study, a self-administrated authentic leadership questionnaire (ALQ) was utilized where the data were collected at three campuses of a health sciences university.ResultsThe study sample consisted of 71 MME graduates and 75 academic leaders. Women represented 42.25% of the MME graduates, with an average age of 41.04 (±5.49) years. Among MME graduates, there were 17 (56.67%) women holding the positions of deans, associate deans, or assistant deans compared with 14 men (34.16%) with a p value of 0.59. There were fourteen (46.67%) women holding Doctor of Philosophy compared with 19 men (46.34%) either holding a clinical fellowship of a master's degree. There were no significant differences between the scores of women and men in the four ALQ domains. Among academic leaders. twenty (26.67%) women were academic leaders with an average age of 47.31 (±9.63) years; compared with 55 men (p = 0.53). Twelve (60.00%) women leaders were from professions other than medicine with a p value of 0.07. Seventeen (85.00%) women were appointed at a middle management position; compared with 43 (78.18%) men with a p value of 0.16. Women showed tendency for higher scores in all ALQ domains; however, it did not reach statistical significance.DiscussionWomen received opportunities to be enrolled in the MME program and the authenticity of their academic leadership skills did not significantly differ from men. Women accounted for a quarter of academic leaders, with more appointments in middle management positions and a tendency toward a better authenticity of leadership skills.
关键词：Authenticity;Leadership;Academic leadership;Women;Career development
