Women in Global Health: Challenges and Progress in Leadership

An international panel of health experts gathered for a special roundtable discussion on leadership in global health to mark International Women’s Day

The session, hosted by Professor Helen Legido-Quigley, Chair in Health Systems at the George Institute for Global Health UK and the School of Public Health featured distinguished leaders from across the public health landscape sharing their perspectives on leadership and reflecting on challenges faced by women in global health.

Speakers on the panel included Dr Karina Rando (Former Minister of Public Health, Uruguay), Professor Katharina Hauck, Deputy Director, the Jameel Institute & Professor of Health Economics, School of Public Health), Dr Jessamy Bagenal (Senior Executive Editor, The Lancet) and Nisreen Shehada (Master of Public Health candidate, School of Public Health).

The discussion delved into a range of topics, including the essential qualities of strong leadership, the importance of challenging the status quo, the barriers women encounter in leadership roles, community-led leadership and what is required to create tangible change toward a more equitable future in global health.

Building Trust and Empathy in Leadership

Kicking off the panel, Dr Jessamy Bagenal spoke on the power of collaboration to build trust and tackle uncertainty, saying: “The ability to work transparently, inclusively and to deal with uncertainty is so powerful. Inspirational women often build trustworthiness. They are not afraid to tackle uncertainty and have space for difficult conversations, to be vulnerable, share power and acknowledge other people and listen to different voices…That ability to build trust is so crucial in our health systems.”

Meanwhile, Dr Karina Rando added that women can often bring a unique empathy and compassion to decision-making processes, especially valuable in times of crisis. “The humanitarian aspect of leadership can be seen as weak by men, but the benefit of female leadership is the ability to integrate strategical vision with social sensitivity. True leadership is not just making decisions, it is about making a difference. Compassion and efficiency are not opposing forces – they can be powerful allies in a time of crisis.”

Dr Rando shared d a real-life example from her tenure as Uruguay’s Minister of Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the Greg Mortimer cruise ship became stranded off the coast of South America, Uruguay took decisive action while many neighbouring countries had closed their borders. When the President of Uruguay asked Dr Rando if they should consider allow the ship to dock in Uruguay Karina said: “It was not a question of should but simply how and when”. Her story exemplified how persistence and empathy in leadership could help overcome immense challenges.

“Be persistent, it will be difficult, but you can do it. If you want to do it, persist and you will be successful.”

Female leadership in academia 

Professor Katharina Hauck touched on the significance of collaboration and team building in research fields. “In academia it can be very lonely. We are often trained and expected to work on our own, but I believe that true power in academia comes from teamwork and bringing different disciplines together. We must recognise what each member can bring to a team and encourage and facilitate cross-collaboration.”

Addressing the disproportionate impact of maternity leave on women’s careers, particularly in academia, Katharina noted that while the immediate effects of maternity leave may seem limited to a year, the longer-term impact is significant. “There has been research that shows the impact can be felt much longer than the initial year. It is not surprising when you must return to work and then devote time to getting your research that may have been on hold, up and running again. This leads to a large gap in your publications, and it is not surprising to see women leave academia at this point in their career.”

Leveraging challenge as a changemaker  

Nisreen Shehada, a Palestinian dentist who fled Gaza and Master of Public Health candidate at Imperial, added another vital perspective: "Underrepresented women and refugees must be seen as leaders—not just as voices in the conversation, but as change-makers who leverage their backgrounds as assets." Nisreen emphasized that bringing marginalised communities into leadership spaces isn’t simply about representation; it’s about real-world impact. She highlighted the importance of community-led leadership, which ensures diverse voices shape health policies and interventions.

Professor Neil Ferguson, Director of the School of Public Health and the Jameel Institute, provided closing remarks for the session and reflected on the challenges of the current climate where many initiatives designed to support and champion diversity are being criticised and systematically destroyed.

“It is a dark time in global health with the efforts to push back some of the aspirations and norms we felt we could take for granted. There is a tendency to adapt and accept these changes, such as changing our language and avoiding buzzwords which are used as targets for defunding, but I feel strongly we are meant to resist that.

“We need to affirm our values and believe in the positive aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion and the evidence base which underpins that, in terms of creating better more efficient and effective organisations.”

Highlighted throughout was the fundamental role that diverse leadership plays in shaping resilient health systems and advancing solutions to public health challenges globally.

Professor Helena Legido-Quigley reflected on the discussions following the roundtable: “This was a very important conversation to have as part of International Women’s Day and Women at Imperial Week. I found the discussion to be honest and incredibly inspirational, however, this is just the start. We must continue to have spaces to tackle these issues constructively and remember that true leadership in global health requires not only expertise and authority, but also the courage to disrupt and question outdated systems.”

Special thanks to the speakers for facilitating this discussion and to our guests/attendees for their valued contributions, questions and commitment to creating an equitable future.

Please see a recording of the roundtable discussion below:

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