Gendered Experiences in Pharmacy Education Exposed Through a National Financial Collapse - A Reflection From the Lebanese Crisis

Abstract

Women have long been drawn to pharmacy; it is often seen as a profession that allows them to balance their professional and personal responsibilities, and Lebanon is not an exception, where the majority of practicing pharmacists are women. Despite gender equality commitments and educational attainments, women are still underrepresented at high positions in the pharmacy academia. In Lebanon, the recent multidimensional economic crisis has added to and compounded existing difficulties. Women have been forced to improvise their jobs and household responsibilities, resulting in an increase in unpaid care and other household work. The aim of this commentary is to provide a critical reflection of the impact of a national financial collapse on the roles and expectations of women in academia, by highlighting the leadership, research, service, and contributions achieved by 2 women academics during these difficult times. These experiences are linked with existing literature to draw some conclusions and suggest recommendations for future research. Our experiences demonstrated that women are engines of recovery, as seen by their tenacity, resourcefulness in adversity, self-reliance, and desire to engage in proactive community activity. The multifaceted crisis in Lebanon has unlocked new demands, where hard-won accomplishments for women should be reassessed, and inquiries into gendered realities for women of academics in the field of pharmacy are necessary. Responding to the Lebanese crisis from the perspective of pharmacy education should include not just repairing disparities, but also restructuring a more robust system with women academics at its core.