Leadership in academic medicine does not reflect the gender representation in medical schools. Women are underrepresented in senior academic rank, leadership positions and are also paid less than their male counterparts for the same work.

Burnout reportedly more common in women than in men. Fair policies for maternity leave and fair expectations for parents with young children can facilitate promotion of individuals on different timelines.

Recommendations

• Leadership programs for women should target all levels of academia- from medical school to senior faculty.
• Peer mentoring and having female role models are important aspects that should be emphasized.
• Gender concordance between mentor and mentee does not impact satisfaction of mentorship experience (i.e. men can mentor women and women can mentor men.
• Women face different work-related stresses (sexual harassment, verbal abuse, underestimation of skills) and these areas may particularly benefit from being addressed in mentoring.
• Work-life balance issues are an important aspect for mentoring everyone but may be a particularly important topic for women because of long-standing role expectations.
• Mentorship programs, regardless of model are helpful in promoting and retaining women in academic medicine.

Leadership Training Programs for Women in Medicine

• American Medical Association (AMA) Women in Medicine
• American Medical Women’s Association
• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Women in Medicine
• AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS): The GWIMS advances the full and successful participation and inclusion of women within the academic medicine by addressing gender equity, recruitment and retention, awards and recognition and career advancement. Offers Early and Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership development seminars as well as town halls.
• Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program For Women

Useful Websites

• AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science
• Harvard Business Review articles on work-life balance

References

• Farkas AH, Bonifacino E, Turner R, Tilstra SA, Corbelli JA. Mentorship of Women in Academic Medicine: a Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Jul;34(7):1322-1329. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-04955-2.PMID: 31037545
• Pope JE. Mentoring women in medicine: a personal perspective. Lancet. 2018 Feb 10;391(10120):520-521. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30243-5.PMID: 29617225
• Abramson EL, Naifeh MM, Stevenson MD, Li ST. Scholarly Collaboration, Mentorship, and Friendship: A New Model for Success in Academic Medicine. Acad Pediatr. 2019 Nov-Dec;19(8):860-864. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2019.07.010. Epub 2019 Aug 2.PMID: 31382043
• Weavind L, McGrane TJ. Women Mentoring Women in Academic Medicine: Pathways to Success. Int Anesthesiol Clin. Summer 2018;56(3):110-120
• Bustillo M, Gotian R. A mentoring circle supports women anaesthesiologists at every career stage. Br J Anaesth. 2020 Mar;124(3):e190-e191
• Marshall AL, Dversdal RK, Murphy M, Prill DM, Zhang T, Jain S. WOMENtorship: The #WomenInMedicine perspective. Med Teach. 2020 Feb;42(2):228-230