Workplace Belonging of Women Healthcare Professionals Relates to Likelihood of Leaving

PURPOSE: There is a high rate of attrition of professionals from healthcare institutions, which threatens the economic viability of these institutions and the quality of care they provide to patients. Women professionals face particular challenges that may lower their sense of belonging in the healthcare workplace. We sought to test the hypothesis that workplace belonging of women healthcare professionals relates to the likelihood that they expect to leave their institution. METHODS: Participants of a continuing education course on women’s leadership skills in health care completed a survey about their experiences of belonging in workplace and their likelihood of leaving that institution within the next 2 years. An association between workplace belonging (measured by the cumulative number of belonging factors experienced, scale 0–10) and likelihood of leaving (measured on a 5-point Likert scale) was evaluated using ordinal logistic regression. The relative importance of workplace belonging factors in predicting the likelihood of leaving was assessed using dominance analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-nine percent of survey participants were women, and 63% were clinicians. Sixty-one percent of participants reported at least a slight likelihood of leaving their healthcare institution within the next 2 years. Greater workplace belonging was found to be associated with a significant reduction in the reported likelihood of leaving their institution after accounting for the number of years having worked in their current institution, underrepresented minority status, and the interaction between the latter two covariates. The workplace belonging factor found to be most important in predicting the likelihood of leaving was the belief that there was an opportunity to thrive professionally in the institution. Belonging factors involving feeling able to freely share thoughts and opinions were also found to be of relatively high importance in predicting the likelihood of leaving. CONCLUSION: Greater workplace belonging was found to relate significantly to a reduced likelihood of leaving their institution within the next 2 years. Our findings suggest that leaders of healthcare organizations might reduce attrition of women by fostering workplace belonging with particular attention to empowering professional thriving and creating a culture that values open communication.