Abstract:BACKGROUND: Resources, including space, equipment, funding, personnel, and protected time, are essential in academic medical careers. Negotiation often plays a key role in the distribution of these resources. OBJECTIVE: This study explored gender differences in resources, negotiation behaviors, and negotiation outcomes in a sample of career development awardees. DESIGN: Postal survey of a cohort of 1,708 clinicianresearchers with responses from 1,275 (75 % response rate).
PARTICIPANTS: Researchers who received… Show more
“…6,7,24–29 One set of explanations focuses on factors that may lead to lower research and clinical productivity among women, which would result in unadjusted income differences. Such factors include differential household responsibilities, 30–32 childrearing, greater difficulty finding effective mentors, 24–26,33 inequitable allocation of institutional research funding and work space, 15,17,18,34 and different preferences on work-life balance 35,36 although evidence on the latter is mixed. 37,38 Another set of explanations focuses on factors that may explain sex differences in salary even among men and women who are similarly productive in research and clinical work.…”
“…6,7,24–29 One set of explanations focuses on factors that may lead to lower research and clinical productivity among women, which would result in unadjusted income differences. Such factors include differential household responsibilities, 30–32 childrearing, greater difficulty finding effective mentors, 24–26,33 inequitable allocation of institutional research funding and work space, 15,17,18,34 and different preferences on work-life balance 35,36 although evidence on the latter is mixed. 37,38 Another set of explanations focuses on factors that may explain sex differences in salary even among men and women who are similarly productive in research and clinical work.…”
“…These include mentorship, 6–14 access to resources, 15,16 time allocation, and other aspects of the work environment. 17–20 They also include competing demands in the domestic sphere, 21–26 along with the priorities of the individuals themselves.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We employed a longitudinal design to allow for the evaluation of the influence of various factors on success, including demographics, basic job characteristics, the work environment, priorities, and domestic responsibilities. We have previously reported findings regarding the baseline characteristics of this sample; 6,15,25 this report constitutes the analysis of the primary objective of the longitudinal study, which was funded by the NIH through an R01 research grant.…”
Purpose
Understanding the careers of recent career development awardees is essential to guide interventions to ensure gender equity and success in academic medicine.
Method
In 2010–11 (T1) and 2014 (T2), 1,719 clinician-researchers who received new K08 and K23 awards in 2006–2009 were longitudinally surveyed. Multivariable analyses evaluated the influence of factors on success, including demographics, job characteristics, work environment, priorities, and domestic responsibilities.
Results
Of 1,275 respondents at T1, 1,066 (493 women; 573 men) responded at T2. Men and women differed in job characteristics, work environment, priorities, and domestic responsibilities. By T2, women had less funding (mean $780,000 vs. $1,120,000, P = .002), and published fewer papers (mean 33 vs. 45). Using a composite measure that considered funding, publications, or leadership to define success, 53.5% (264/493) of women and 67.0% (384/573) of men were successful. Gender differences in success persisted after accounting for other significant predictors—K-award type, specialty, K-award year, work hours, funding institute tier, feeling responsible for playing a role in department/division administration, importance of publishing prolifically, feeling responsible for contributing to clinical care, importance of publishing high-quality research, collegiality of the mentoring relationship, adequacy of research equipment, and departmental climate. A significant interaction existed between K-award type and gender; the gender difference in success was most pronounced among K23 researchers (among whom the OR for females = 0.32).
Conclusions
Men and women continue to have different experiences and career outcomes, with important implications for the design of interventions to promote equity and success.
“…Gender differences in negotiation have been cited as one explanation for pay and promotion inequity. Women have been described as “poor negotiators” who don't achieve parity because they “don't ask for it.” Interview participants described formal and informal initiatives designed to improve members’ negotiation skills. Participant A stated,Because of the didactics that this [women‐focused professional organization] has done at [national conferences] and negotiation didactics and talking to women that are chairs that are willing to share their secrets—whenever I go in to talk to my chair or any boss … I go in with data.…”
Objectives: Organizations to promote career networking and mentorship among women are recommended as a best practice to support the recruitment and retention of women physicians; however, the impact of such organizations is unknown. Our primary objective is to describe the impact of a national woman-focused organization for academic emergency physicians on retention and advancement.
Methods:We conducted semistructured interviews of past and present organization leaders, as well as members at varying stages in their careers. Physicians with experience in qualitative methods conducted interviews and coded all transcripts using inductive content analysis techniques. Themes were reviewed and discussed to ensure consensus.
Results:We performed 17 interviews lasting 20 to 30 minutes each, resulting in 476 total minutes of transcript.Participants represented varying stages of career experience, ranging from 2 to 35 years since residency completion (median = 9.5 years). Median years of participation in the woman-focused organization was 10 years. Over half (53%) of participants were past presidents of the organization. The dominant themes encompassed facilitating academic advancement through scholarly productivity, leadership experiences, awards, and promotions; mentorship and sponsorship; peer support and collaborations; reduced professional isolation; and initiatives to address systemic gender inequities and challenges, including strategies to navigate bias, promote pay equity, and advocate for family-friendly workplace policies.Discussion: Active participation in a woman-focused professional organization enhances members' career retention and advancement by creating opportunities and relationships that facilitate leadership, enabling scholarly work to advance equity and inclusion, and cultivating a sense of belonging. While challenges and barriers persist, the myriad benefits of a women-focused professional organization reported by members and leaders represent important steps toward greater equity for women and other underrepresented groups in academic medicine.
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