History was made at the recent annual meeting of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) when Jerilynn Kaibel, DC, was elected as the first woman member of ACA's Board of Governors. While some will see this as a major step toward including women in the ranks of chiropractic's leadership, others are no doubt shocked that this was a first, and wondering how it could have taken so long. (I've been told that the International Chiropractors Association has yet to have a woman as a board member.)
Another trade association you may be familiar with has also made strides in putting a woman in a position of leadership. The AMA swore in Nancy Dickey, MD, of College Station, Texas as its first woman president on June 17. So while the ACA has taken a step in the right direction, the AMA has upstaged it.
A survey of the profession in the United States revealed that in 1992, over 13 percent of the practicing DCs were women.1 That number has grown in the last six years to somewhere near 20 percent. Depending on what state you live in, the percentage of practicing women doctors of chiropractic could be higher than 30 percent.
If you look at the students in our chiropractic colleges, you will see even greater percentages of women. Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College's most recent incoming class is 48 percent women, the greatest percentage of women students they've ever experienced.
But as you look across this profession, it's painfully obvious that women are missing from the chiropractic leadership positions, particularly in the United States:
CMCC is the only North American chiropractic college (out of 16) with a woman president.
Out of 78 members of the ACA's House of Delegates, only six are women: one governor; four delegates; and the student ACA president.
The FCLB has never had a woman president. In recent years there have been three female officers or district directors. Several of the state licensing boards have or have had women presidents.
A perfect example of the changing demographics of the chiropractic profession was found at the luncheon to thank the outgoing officers and welcome the new officers during the annual convention of the California Chiropractic Association (CCA). Though 19 percent of the chiropractic profession in California, none of the departing officers were women; the only incoming female CCA officer was Judy Thurber, DC, vice president of internal affairs. However, among the CCA societies, almost 19 percent had women presidents.
But when the call came to inaugurate the five CCA student-chapter officers, the future became clear: all were women, and four of the five were minority students.
In talking to women DCs in leadership positions throughout the profession, they pointed out certain qualities needed by women to succeed:
How many hard working women have been turned away or alienated because they couldn't break into the "boys club"?
If there aren't qualified women vying for leadership roles, what has happened to discourage them?
What can our women DCs do to make the transition easier and help balance our professional leadership?
Have we not also treated ethnic minorities the same way?
The chiropractic profession needs every resource at its disposal. To miss out on the energy, enthusiasm, wisdom and participation of our women DCs is a foolish and arrogant loss we cannot afford.
It's time to allow the full expression of chiropractors, male, female, and all races to infuse our profession with all the qualities we possess. If women do not make up close to 19 percent of your chiropractic organization's officers and directors, then your leadership doesn't truly represent your membership.
In only 17 months, we enter a new millennium. The more DCs we have involved, the better chance we have of success in our second hundred years of chiropractic.
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1. Job Analysis of Chiropractic. A project report, survey analysis and summary of the practice of chiropractic within the United States. National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, 1994.
Donald M. Petersen Jr.,BS,HCD(hc),FICC(h)
Editor/Publisher of Dynamic Chiropractic
Don-MPAmedia.com
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