Gender differences persist in academic mentorship, sponsorship in well-established faculty
Key takeaways:
- Women reported fewer instances of sponsorship for high-profile public opportunities.
- Men endorsed greater concern in mentoring someone of a different sex.
Gender differences in mentorship and sponsorship persist far into the careers of well-established senior medical faculty, according to a research letter published in JAMA Network Open.
“We found it striking that even among this particularly elite group of faculty — selected for our study because they received highly competitive national K-series career development grants from the NIH — there were gender differences in receipt of sponsorship for high-profile public opportunities, such as invitations to write editorials or serve as visiting professors,” Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, FASCO, FASTRO, Lawrence W. Davis professor, chair of the department of radiation oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, and member of the Women in Oncology Peer Perspective Board, told Healio.
“It was also noteworthy that there were gender differences in perceptions of the costs and benefits of mentoring others, including greater concern among men about mentoring someone of a different sex,” she said.
Faculty experiences
It is well known that mentorship and sponsorship are key to career development in academic medicine, but most research has focused on early-career stages, according to Jagsi.
“We were interested in learning more about senior medical faculty’s experiences — both in receiving mentorship and sponsorship — and also their attitudes and experiences with mentoring others,” she said.
Between Aug. 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022, researchers surveyed 830 (422 men; 385 women) first-time recipients of NIH K08 or K23 career development awards from 2006 to 2009. Self-reported gender served as the primary independent variable of interest.
Observed differences
Overall, most respondents identified as white (68.9%) and as full (55.3%) or associate professors (40.6%).
Results showed gender differences in mentorship structure, with 19% of women reporting that they had “very much” turned to colleagues for peer mentorship compared with only 10.2% of men who reported the same (P = .008).
Moreover, women reported fewer instances for sponsorship of high-profile public opportunities, such as receiving or providing invitations to write editorials and receiving invitations to serve as visiting professors.
Men appeared more likely to endorse benefits of organizational recognition, protégés being loyal supporters and reliving their lives through their protégés. Men also reported greater concern for mentoring someone of a different sex.
Of note, men and women both pointed to time commitment as a drawback to mentoring others.
“Institutions need to commit seriously to supporting mentorship, both by ensuring adequate protected time to engage in this important activity and by valuing it in promotions processes,” Jagsi said.
Researchers acknowledged study limitations, including that the study consisted of a select cohort focus and may not reflect faculty experiences more broadly. Additionally, the study excluded respondents who left academia and whose experiences may have differed from the current cohort.
‘Positioned to mentor’
“Every one of us is positioned to mentor others, and when we do so, we should be intentional to try and ensure that we are equitably distributing opportunities to others who might benefit,” Jagsi said. “If we all act in that way, we will transform the system in ways that will allow us all to better achieve our mission.”
The current study is part of an ongoing, large, longitudinal study funded by R01 grants from the NIH, Jagsi noted.
“We recently conducted a randomized trial funded by an ongoing R01 grant of a leadership development intervention in a subset of those surveyed,” she said. “One of the modules focused on mentorship and sponsorship, and the whole intervention included substantial efforts to cultivate peer mentorship. We look forward to seeing if these initiatives affect the experiences and career trajectories of those who participated.”
For more information:
Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, FASCO, FASTRO, can be reached on X (formerly known as Twitter): @reshmajagsi.
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