Fundamentals of leadership development: a randomized pilot study to evaluate implementation of a leadership curriculum for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

BACKGROUND

The Fundamentals of Leadership Development (FLD) Curriculum was created to increase integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in leadership skills. The pilot FLD course was utilized 1) evaluate short-term impact of the curriculum, and 2) evaluate optimal delivery methods of curricular interventions on diversity in a leadership context in a randomized fashion.

METHODS

After IRB approval, the pilot FLD course was opened to all SAGES Committee members for enrollment. All participants had access to the same online modules and discussion forum, but were randomized either to a 4-week longitudinal or 2-day intensive didactic session. Participants were asked to assess the curricular content after each online module and provide overall course feedback on all sessions. This data was collected along with leadership experience, course participation, and course completion data.

RESULTS

A total of 79 participants registered for the FLD course, with 55 (69.7%) of participants completing the course. Of those that registered, 46 (58.2%) self-identified as underrepresented in medicine, 32 (40.5%) self-identified with she/her/hers pronouns, and 45 (57.0%) held an institutional leadership position. Fifty-nine (74.6%) participants were willing to be randomized. Course engagement was higher in the intensive course with 64.1% and 48.7% participation over days 1 and 2, respectively. In the longitudinal course, participation dropped off every week from 70%, 47.5%, 35%, and 27.5%, throughout the 4-week course. Participants who accessed the online modules spent a median time of 3 h and 34 min. User confidence after completion of each individual module were "somewhat confident" and "completely confident" for almost all survey respondents on a 5-tier Likert scale.

CONCLUSIONS

The pilot FLD course appealed to SAGES members in leadership roles and who identified as. URiM. Course engagement was higher in the intensive course. Long-term behavior changes after course completion will need to be assessed with additional qualitative interviews. (300/300 words).