Women in Academic Neurology Toolkit

Academic Careers

The disparities for women in neurology include compensation1, academic rank2, recognition3, burnout4,5, and professional speaking opportunities6, 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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.