Introduction:

The political will of raising the women representativeness in leadership positions is manifested in different debate spaces.

Objective:

To describe the perceptions of women and men on women's participation in leadership positions in the health sector.

Methods:

Qualitative research conducted in the period 2013-2017 in the health sector in Cuba. The information sources were reviewed; 28 semi-structured interviews to managers and 13 in-depth interviews to key informants were applied. It was created a guide of questions obtained from the scientific literature consulted and after the experts’ consensus. In addition, the causes that generate a lower representation of women in leadership positions were investigated. The data were processed on the basis of the analysis of content.

Results:

It was found the existence of multiple documents that reflect the will of the Cuban government to promote women to positions of leadership. The people interviewed tend to separate or segregate the positions on the basis of gender, according to management levels and responsibilities that are awarded or deployed by men and women in the exercise of the positions.

Conclusions:

From the mentioned perceptions emerge remnants of an androcentric culture in which are highlighted gender differences in leadership positions of greater hierarchy in the social context of the Cuban health sector.

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