Closing the Mentorship Gap: Implementation of Speed Mentoring Events for Women Faculty and Trainees in Anesthesiology

Abstract

Introduction: Mentorship is a key component to success in academic medicine. Women are under-represented in leadership positions within medicine. Women are less likely to identify mentors than men. Speed mentoring is an innovative strategy to facilitate mentorship in academic medicine. Materials and Methods: A speed mentoring event for women faculty members in an academic anesthesiology department was held, followed by a second event for trainees. Attendees completed surveys about mentorship experiences at baseline and in follow-up. Questions were rated on a 7-point Likert scale with 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree with values reported as median (1st, 3rd quartile). Results: Baseline surveys indicated poor satisfaction with mentoring in the prior 6 months as 4.5 (3, 5.25). Twelve months later, mentees reported increased satisfaction with mentoring 6 (6, 6). Mentors and mentees felt their time was well spent during both events. There was an increase in the number of mentors identified after the events by both groups. Conclusions: Our results suggest speed mentoring is well received and impactful with minimal time and monetary investment. The attendees of the events identified an increased number of mentors after speed mentoring events, and this effect was maintained at 6–12 months. Speed mentoring may be one path to providing support for women to advance their careers in academic medicine. More research is warranted to better evaluate effectiveness of formats such as speed mentoring to facilitate improved mentorship for women in academic anesthesiology.

Addressing structural mentoring barriers in postdoctoral training: A qualitative study

“…Moreover, this culture is upheld by the leadership when little to no intervening occurs. It is similar to the mentoring gap previously described in the literature [41, 42]. For marginalized trainees, access to mentoring networks is often more limited than that of their peers.…”

Evaluating the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative: Supporting mentorship, career satisfaction, and well‐being among pediatric anesthesiologists

“…Woman‐focused continuing medical education programs improve academic productivity 14 . “Speed mentoring” in anesthesiology shows sustained improvements 12 months later 16 . The organization Women In Anesthesiology provides a platform to educate female anesthesiologists (https://www.womeninanesthesiology.org/).…”

“…14 "Speed mentoring" in anesthesiology shows sustained improvements 12 months later. 16 The organization Women In Anesthesiology provides a platform to educate female anesthesiologists (https://www.women inane sthes iology.org/). Women of Impact in Anesthesiology tells the stories of successful women leaders in anesthesiology (https:// www.asahq.org/educa tion-and-caree r/women -of-impact).…”

Pro-Con Debate: Consideration of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Is Detrimental to Successful Mentorship

“…Recent reports have described the success of several mentorship programs designed to advance the careers of women and underrepresented physicians in anesthesiology. One academic anesthesiology department implemented a "speed mentoring" event tailored to women holding junior faculty rank, which significantly increased faculty satisfaction with mentoring, 23 while other academic departments have launched mentoring programs serving fellows, residents, medical students, and college students from groups underrepresented in anesthesiology. 24,25 Among professional societies, the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia created the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative to support the career advancement of women faculty through a combination of mentorship, sponsorship, and coaching by faculty of any gender.…”