Lara Varpio1, Emily Harvey2, Debbie Jaarsma3, Nancy Dudek4, Margaret Hay5, Kathy Day4, Karlen Bader Larsen2, Jennifer Cleland6. 1. Faculty of Medicine, Center for Health Professions Education, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. 2. Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA. 3. University Medical Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. 4. Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. 5. Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Vic., Australia. 6. LKC School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The underrepresentation of women among senior faculty members in medical education is a longstanding problem. The purpose of this international qualitative investigation was to explore women and men's experiences of attaining full professorship and to investigate why women remain underrepresented among the senior faculty ranks. METHODS: Conducted within a social constructionist orientation, our qualitative study employed narrative analysis. Two female and two male participants working in medical education were recruited from five nations: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States. All participants held an MD or PhD. During telephone interviews, participants narrated the story of their careers. The five faculty members on the research team were also interviewed. Their narratives were included in analysis, rendering their experiences equal to those of the participants. RESULTS: A total of 24 full professors working in medical education were interviewed (n = 15 females and n = 9 males). While some aspects were present across all narratives (ie personal events, career milestones and facilitating and/or impeding factors), participants' experience of those aspects differed by gender. Men did not narrate fatherhood as a role navigated professionally, but women narrated motherhood as intimately connected to their professional roles. Both men and women narrated career success in terms of hard work and overcoming obstacles; however, male participants described promotion as inevitable, whereas women narrated promotion as a tenuous navigation of social structures towards uncertain outcomes. Female and male participants encountered facilitators and inhibitors throughout their careers but described acting on those experiences differently within the cultural contexts they faced. DISCUSSION: Our data suggest that female and male participants had different experiences of the work involved in achieving full professor status. Understanding these gendered experiences and their impact on career progression is an important advancement for better understanding what leads to the underrepresentation of women among senior faculty members in medical education.
INTRODUCTION: The underrepresentation of women among senior faculty members in medical education is a longstanding problem. The purpose of this international qualitative investigation was to explore women and men's experiences of attaining full professorship and to investigate why women remain underrepresented among the senior faculty ranks. METHODS: Conducted within a social constructionist orientation, our qualitative study employed narrative analysis. Two female and two male participants working in medical education were recruited from five nations: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States. All participants held an MD or PhD. During telephone interviews, participants narrated the story of their careers. The five faculty members on the research team were also interviewed. Their narratives were included in analysis, rendering their experiences equal to those of the participants. RESULTS: A total of 24 full professors working in medical education were interviewed (n = 15 females and n = 9 males). While some aspects were present across all narratives (ie personal events, career milestones and facilitating and/or impeding factors), participants' experience of those aspects differed by gender. Men did not narrate fatherhood as a role navigated professionally, but women narrated motherhood as intimately connected to their professional roles. Both men and women narrated career success in terms of hard work and overcoming obstacles; however, male participants described promotion as inevitable, whereas women narrated promotion as a tenuous navigation of social structures towards uncertain outcomes. Female and male participants encountered facilitators and inhibitors throughout their careers but described acting on those experiences differently within the cultural contexts they faced. DISCUSSION: Our data suggest that female and male participants had different experiences of the work involved in achieving full professor status. Understanding these gendered experiences and their impact on career progression is an important advancement for better understanding what leads to the underrepresentation of women among senior faculty members in medical education.
Authors: Sarah Burm; Victoria Luong; Kori LaDonna; Bryce Bogie; Lindsay Cowley; Jennifer M Klasen; Anna MacLeod Journal: Perspect Med Educ Date: 2022-03-14
Authors: Ben Li; Jean Jacob-Brassard; Fahima Dossa; Konrad Salata; Teruko Kishibe; Elisa Greco; Nancy N Baxter; Mohammed Al-Omran Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2021-11-02 Impact factor: 2.692