‘Become a leader’: Mentorship, professional societies help women in endocrinology advance
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Fewer women than men hold leadership positions in medicine and academia despite their equal numbers as medical school graduates, but women can take several steps to become leaders and promote organizational change, according to a speaker.
In 1980-1981, approximately 25% of medical school graduates were women, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC); today, 49% of medical school graduates are women, Connie B. Newman, MD, FACP, FAHA, FAMWA, FNYAM, adjunct professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, and past-president of the American Medical Women’s Association, said during a women’s leadership forum at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology virtual meeting. Despite the increase in women graduates, challenges for women in medicine in 2021 remain: gender bias, harassment, pay inequities, slower career advancement and maternal discrimination, each intersecting with biases toward race, sex and gender identity and expression, Newman said.
“Those are challenges that can prevent women from becoming leaders,” Newman told Healio. “The promotion rules may not be transparent. Women need more mentors and sponsors. They need someone to suggest that they ‘give grand rounds, lead a session at a national meeting, or serve on a committee.’ That does not happen as often for women, so it is more difficult to advance. There is also the imposter syndrome — women more often than men doubt their own skills. Women also tend to have a dual role as a mother and caregiver.”
Potential solutions exist at an organizational level, Newman said. Implicit bias training and education; equitable and transparent compensation; safe, clear reporting practices for harassment without retaliation; mentorship and leadership training programs are important.
“Organization change is needed to fix these challenges,” Newman told Healio. “Women can actually help. Become a leader. When women are leaders, they can help fix the organizations.”
Overcoming fears
Some women may fear a leadership role or have negative assumptions about what is needed for such a role, Newman said.
“There are some myths that need to be overcome,” Newman said. “Some people think that to be a leader you have to know everything or nearly everything, or that you have to be an extrovert or very charismatic. To be a leader, know your weaknesses and leverage your strengths. Transform traits believed to be deficits into a leadership style.”
Key elements of leadership are resilience, adaptability and vision, Newman said.
“As an example, I became executive director at a pharmaceutical company and had many people reporting to me,” Newman said. “They were doing regulatory work, such as filling out investigational new drug applications, and a lot of it was, perhaps, not so creative. I had to tell them that what we were doing here was improving health by making new medicines. They were inspired by that, that they were part of something bigger.”
Utilize networks
A strong network, with mentors, sponsors and allies — male and female — is important for advancement, Newman said. Professional groups like the American Medical Women’s Association can “provide a safe space” for women physicians and students to discuss their challenges and needs, build their leadership skills and expand networks. Through professional societies like AACE, women can serve on committees, join working groups or task forces, develop guidelines for clinical practice and help develop professional education programs.
“One of the things I tell women doctors is, ask for what you want,” Newman said, who also chaired the recent Endocrine Society guideline on lipid management in endocrine disorders. “No one is going to call and say, ‘I want you to write this guideline.’ I spoke up for myself. You have to do that.”
Newman said women must also remember to “help the women who come after you.”
“You have to support yourself, advocate for yourself and your colleagues to move forward,” she said.
Collapse
Newman C. Challenges and opportunities for women in medicine. Presented at: American Association of Clinical Endocrinology Annual Scientific and Clinical Conference; May 26-29, 2021 (virtual meeting).
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts