Gender Equity in Academia Thriving as a Clinician-Scientist, Establishing Partnerships, and Driving Policy for Change in the Kenya Context

In global health, the mantra that men lead while women do the work is one that is not lost on us. As women in global health, who have also been part of many global health partnerships, we are keen to challenge the status quo on how we think about impact of global health—a viewpoint that must account for gender equity at every level of partnership and global health initiatives. Our stories provide a window into the experiences of what that status quo currently looks like, with personal reflections on how that has impacted us and our own potential impact—by and large negatively so. We also describe potential solutions based on these experiences supplemented by literature on this topic; these are samples of the problem, albeit not comprehensive. To be sure, the challenges go beyond our own in breadth and depth. They will need continued purposeful and intentional work at the core of addressing the educational pipeline, advancing female academics equitably to their male counterparts, promotion and sponsoring for leadership positions equitably among others. This mindset and paradigm shift needs to start at the level of developing global health experts, with the students, trainees, and learners who will soon take over in our stead—it needs to start with you.