Women in Academic Neurology Toolkit

The disparities for women in neurology include compensation¹, academic rank², recognition³, burnout^4,5, and professional speaking opportunities^{6, 7}, to name a few. Further, many women are leaving academic neurology. The Advancing Women in Academics Subcommittee is exploring opportunities to support women in academic neurology, and this Academic Neurology Toolkit is one of several initiatives aimed at helping women navigate the existing academic environment. While the toolkit is focused on women, the resources are expected to benefit everyone. The toolkit, which features a selection of resources, including books, articles, and videos, seeks to support women early in their neurology careers but includes resources for all early-career academic neurologists. This toolkit will be a dynamic resource, so return for updates, new opportunities, and new tools.

Many professional development resources available for women are modeled from the business sector. Some lessons from other sectors transcend disciplines and are directly applicable to women in academia as well. However, women have unique challenges within academic neurology, some of which are not directly addressed by existing resources. Mentorship and sponsorship are important but equally important is an evolution of the academic and medical environments to support the diversity of its constituents. Until such transformation occurs, please use these resources to help you control what you can control.

Women Speakers Directory

Developed out of the AAN's Advancing Women in Academics Subcommittee, the Women Speakers Directory seeks to address the inequities women academics face in being invited to speak at national and international conferences.This information will be used to generate a spreadsheet that serves as a directory of women neurologists and topics they can speak to. The directory will be accessible to all AAN members. The goal is that the directory will be used by institutions or conference planners to boost invitations to women speakers. All AAN members who identify as women and who have completed their training are invited to join the directory. The AAN will not vet or endorse speakers. If you have any questions about the directory, please reach out to Lauren Klaffke at lklaffke@aan.com. The sign up will close May 1, 2024.

Sign up Now

Career Advancement

General career advancement resources can prompt reflection as you think about personal goals, financial goals, and career fulfillment. They also prove useful tools in developing and practicing new skills.

In Own It: The Power of Women at Work, Sallie Krawcheck provides powerful career guidance to women and argues that skills and qualities traditionally identified as feminine, like communication and collaboration, can be leveraged to support women in career advancement.

Communication

Communication is a skill that develops over a lifetime. Most clinicians do not have formal communication training, but it is critically important in practicing medicine and career advancement. Communication can be particularly challenging for women as they navigate gendered critiques. Awareness of body language, acknowledgment of feelings, and remaining present and focused when things are uncomfortable are challenges everyone must learn to manage in academic medicine.

• Adam Grant explores the unexpected power of so-called weak language in this New York Times opinion piece, “Women Know Exactly What They’re Doing When They Use ‘Weak Language’"
• Kwame Christian, Director of the American Negotiation Institute, explores alternative approaches to conflict resolution this TEDx Talk, "Finding Confidence in Conflict."
• Communication Coach Dan O’Connor teaches viewers how to say no in "How to Say No: The Complete and Definitive Guide to Saying No with Power, Tact, and Finesse."
• Amy Cuddy shares how to carry yourself to project confidence in this TEDx Talk, "Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are".

Disparities in Academic Medicine

While women are entering medicine at equal rates to men, they continue to face barriers in obtaining leadership roles and pay equity, not to mention ongoing social pressures around gender roles and gendered labor. Being aware of this information will help you consider your expectations and boundaries and help you to be an advocate for yourself and others.

• In “Representation of Women on Journal Editorial Boards Affiliated with the Association of Medical College’s Council of Faculty and Academic Societies,” Ellinas et al find disparities in the representation of women among journal editors.
• The “Her Time Is Now” report developed by She Leads in Healthcare explores how violations of ethical conduct and financial inequity drive gender disparities in achieving promotion and fair pay.
• Arora et al explore the personal and professional pressure placed on women and minority faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic in “Leveling the Playing Field: Accounting for Academic Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
• In “Gender Disparities in the Career of Neurology Researchers” Hall et al identify the continued disparities faced by women, including rank, authorship, and speaking opportunities.

Imposter Syndrome

Many struggle with imposter syndrome, and there are tools to combat it. Within your sphere of influence, work on recognizing accomplishments, providing constructive feedback, and valuing authenticity.

• Mullangi and Jagsi’s manuscript “Imposter Syndrome: Treat the Cause, Not the Symptom” describes the experiences of physicians with imposter syndrome and offers approaches to preventing imposter syndrome.

Leadership

As mentioned previously, women achieve leadership positions in medicine at lower rates than men. Thinking about and practicing leadership is an important first step in advancing to the next level.

• Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace’s book Creativity, Inc. was expanded in 2023. The text reflects on the creative leadership and management principles that Catmull employed as co-founder and longtime president of Pixar.

Mentorship

Mentorship can be a critical element in career development. Developing good mentor/mentee relationships is a learned skill. Consider some of the resources below in your own mentor/mentee relationships.

• Several institutions provide valuable guidance that includes strategies for mentoring, a description of mentorship phases, and valuable tools to manage mentor-mentee relationships.
  • The UCSF Mentoring Toolkit
  • The University of Washington Mentoring Toolkit
  • The Case Western Mentor Toolkit
  • Mentoring by Michigan State University
• As a complement to planning and preparing for good mentorship, “Mentorship Malpractice” by Chopra, Edelson, and Saint describes how to identify and prevent bad mentor-mentee relationships.

Negotiation

Negotiation skills are critical to achieving career and financial goals.

• In the book, Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, the former FBI negotiator shares nine critical negotiation principles that can inform your approach to negotiating academic neurology positions. In addition, view Chris Voss’s TEDx Talk “Never Split the Difference”
• In this video, “Negotiation: Getting What You Want,” Margaret Neale provides four steps to achieving a successful negotiation: Assess, Prepare, Ask, and Package. Her book is called Getting (More of) What You Want: How the Secrets of Economics and Psychology Can Help You Negotiate Anything in Business and in Life.

Physician Parents

Supporting physician parents is important regardless of gender. At the same time, women and birthing parents often face significant hurdles in their careers. These resources explore those challenges and offer solutions.

• The manuscript “Current Parental Leave Policies for Medical Students at U.S. Medical Schools: A Comparative Study” by Kraus et al describes the current state of parental leave for medical student students and finds that many schools lack easily accessible and supportive policies.
• The manuscript "The unequal impact of parenthood in academia" by Morgan et al explores the gender productivity gap and emphasizes the importance of paid parental leave and childcare in recruiting and retaining women in academia.
• In “Challenges and Solutions for Physician Mothers: A Critical Review of the Literature” by Chesak et al, the authors identify and summarize the challenges and solutions faced by physician mothers.

Have suggestions for this page? Please reach out to Lauren Klaffke.

References

1. Silver, J.K., Understanding and addressing gender equity for women in neurology. Neurology, 2019. 93(12): p. 538-549.
2. McDermott, M., et al., Sex Differences in Academic Rank and Publication Rate at Top-Ranked US Neurology Programs. JAMA Neurol, 2018. 75(8): p. 956-961.
3. Silver, J.K., et al., Women physicians underrepresented in American Academy of Neurology recognition awards. Neurology, 2018. 91(7): p. e603-e614.
4. Hasan, T.F., et al., Burnout and attrition: Expanding the gender gap in neurology? Neurology, 2019. 93(23): p. 1002-1008.
5. Moore, L.R., et al., Burnout and Career Satisfaction in Women Neurologists in the United States. J Womens Health (Larchmt), 2019. 28(4): p. 515-525.
6. Fournier, L.E., et al., Females Are Less Likely Invited Speakers to the International Stroke Conference: Time's Up to Address Sex Disparity. Stroke, 2020. 51(2): p. 674-678.
7. Singhal, D., et al., Representation of women plenary speakers at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. Neurology, 2020. 95(22): p. e3045-e3059.