Racially and ethnically minoritised (REM) women health professionals face compounded marginalisation at the intersection of race and gender. Presently, their career experiences remain significantly underexplored within the Australian socio-political context, limiting efforts to cultivate culturally safe and inclusive professional environments.
Drawing on insights from semi-structured interviews conducted between May and August 2024, this presentation centres the voices of REM women doctors across Australia. A critical realist approach to thematic analysis enabled an in-depth exploration of the women’s subjective experiences, and a nuanced interrogation of the underlying generative mechanisms, structures, and conditions that (re)produce these experiences.
Findings reveal that REM women doctors navigate a healthcare system that was never designed to accommodate the full expression of their identities, and remains resistant to change. The centricity of Whiteness and dominance of Eurocentric norms function as symbolic violence, sustaining racialised hierarchies and power dynamics. REM women experience intersectional invisibility; their embodied realities are often disregarded by gender equity movements and efforts to address cultural diversity. The psychological and emotional toll of workplace marginalisation undermines the retention, advancement, and full participation of REM women in medicine, ultimately constraining the profession’s capacity to deliver culturally responsive care to Australia’s increasingly diverse patient population.
I contend that fostering culturally safe environments in medicine requires institutional responsibility, commitment to structural transformation, and accountability. A multi-faceted approach is needed, underpinned by justice and the explicit acknowledgement of the pervasive, albeit covert, presence of racism in the Australian medical profession. Implications for policy reform and regulatory oversight are presented.