Forbes Magazine Ranks UAMS in Top 30% of Best Employers for Women
| Forbes magazine has named the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to its list of Best Employers for Women 2021.
UAMS was ranked 86th on a list of the top 300 companies in the United States, putting it in the top 30%. UAMS was the only company in Arkansas to make the list.
The 300 companies are those that received the highest total scores after an independent survey of 50,000 employees nationwide. All of those surveyed worked at companies with at least 1,000 employees.
“UAMS’ diversity is its greatest strength,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “Women make up about 70% of our workforce, and I’m proud of the fact that over the three years that I have been at UAMS, we have made great strides in increasing the number of women in leadership roles. This recognition by Forbes is representative of the vital role that women play at UAMS in ensuring a better state of heath for all Arkansans.”
Danielle Lombard-Sims, Ph.D., SPHR, vice chancellor and chief human resources officer at UAMS, agreed.
“We have made considerable progress in gender parity over the years, including increasing the number of female leaders on our senior leadership team, creating hiring practices that focus on having a productive and diverse workforce, and ensuring that the policies we are enacting offer more family-friendly benefits in the workplace,” she said.
Statista Inc., which released the results with Forbes on July 27, evaluated survey responses based on four criteria:
- Employees’ likelihood of recommending their employer based on general topics such as managerial support of employees, opportunities for development, physical working conditions, salary, benefits and diversity.
- Female employees’ ratings on topics such as parental leave, family support, flexible time schedules, attention to discrimination concerns, representation of women in upper management and pay equity.
- Female participants’ evaluation of other employers in their industry regarding diversity.
- An index that was created, using publicly available information, about the share of women in executive management or board positions.
The goal of America’s Best Employers for Women, now in its fourth year, is to provide Forbes’ readership with information on which companies with more than 1,000 employees provide the most progressive work experiences. The top 300 companies represent just 0.13% of all companies with 1,000 or more employees in the United States.
“We are excited to receive recognition from Forbes for the international efforts made by UAMS to create an inclusive environment for women,” said Brian Gittens, UAMS’ vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion. “While there is still plenty of work to do, we are moving in the right direction.”
In April, the magazine ranked UAMS seventh nationally on its annual list of Best Employers for Diversity, also based on independent surveys of more than 50,000 people in workplaces of more than 1,000 employees.
The diversity survey included consideration of general diversity as well as participants’ perceptions of employers’ approaches to gender and ethnic diversity, as well as LGBTQ+ representation and accommodation of employees with disability.
The complete listing of Forbes Best Employers for Women and a full explanation of the methodology are available at www.forbes.com/best-employers-women/.