Loyal Jaspreet, Beagan Rebecca, Dias Magna, Asnes Andrea
Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2025 Mar;34(3):e401-e408. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2024.0416. Epub 2024 Dec 23.
Although women have comprised at least 50% of medical school classes for decades, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions. Although the proportion of women division chiefs in the U.S. academic medical centers is small, it is growing. Division chief positions can be a precursor to more senior level leadership positions. Our objective was to explore the lived experience of women division chiefs across specialties. We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews of women division chiefs from medical and surgical subspecialties in 2023 at a major academic medical center in the northeastern United States. We used the grounded theory approach and the constant comparative method until thematic sufficiency was reached. We interviewed 18 of a total of 29 women division chiefs (62%). The following major themes emerged: (1) Most women are externally motivated to seek out the division chief role, (2) formal preparation or leadership development prior to taking on the section chief role is lacking, (3) leaders (both men and women) who sponsor and mentor women facilitate their success, and (4) women leaders face specific challenges including promotion delays and lack of recognition of their authentic leadership styles. We found the following minor themes: (1) Lack of formal onboarding to the division chief role; (b) positive influence of women in senior leadership roles within the institution; and (c) barriers to leadership roles include feeling undervalued in preceding leadership roles, navigating parenthood, and need for broader sponsorship. Opportunities to support the continued growth of women division heads include more deliberate recruitment and succession planning; a structured, formal onboarding process; acceptance of authentic leadership styles; and more practical ways to support parenting.
尽管几十年来医学院班级中女性比例至少达到了50%，但女性在领导职位上的代表性仍然不足。尽管美国学术医疗中心女性科室主任的比例较小，但仍在不断增长。科室主任职位可能是更高级别领导职位的前奏。我们的目标是探索各专业女性科室主任的生活经历。2023年，我们在美国东北部一家主要学术医疗中心对医学和外科亚专业的女性科室主任进行了半结构化访谈，开展了一项定性研究。我们采用扎根理论方法和持续比较法，直至达到主题饱和。在总共29位女性科室主任中，我们采访了18位（62%）。出现了以下主要主题：（1）大多数女性担任科室主任一职是受外部因素驱动；（2）在担任科室主任之前缺乏正式的准备或领导力培养；（3）支持和指导女性的领导者（包括男性和女性）促进了她们的成功；（4）女性领导者面临着特定挑战，包括晋升延迟以及她们的真实领导风格未得到认可。我们还发现了以下次要主题：（1）缺乏担任科室主任的正式入职培训；（2）机构内担任高级领导职务的女性产生的积极影响；（3）担任领导角色的障碍包括在前领导角色中感到被低估、平衡为人父母的责任以及需要更广泛的支持。支持女性科室主任持续成长的机会包括更有针对性的招聘和继任计划；结构化、正式的入职流程；接受真实的领导风格；以及支持育儿的更切实可行的方法。
