Athena, the goddess of wisdom, appears in Greek mythology as a mentor to many. Similarly, the goal of the Women Faculty Affairs' Athena group -- one of several WFA initiatives -- is to provide women with mutual mentorship, support, and guidance.
Although women comprised just five percent of medical students in 1960, they are now entering medical schools in numbers approximately equal to men, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The representation of women on medical faculty is increasing from year to year, and this progress is particularly apparent at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2005, women at Memorial Hospital constituted 37 percent of faculty and 38 percent of the physicians of highest rank, while at most academic medical centers nationwide, only 30 percent of faculties were female, and just 30 percent of women served as highest ranked physicians, the AAMC reported. "We know that there is opportunity for growth, even though we currently beat the national averages for the representation of women in the faculty," said Memorial Sloan-Kettering radiologist Laura Liberman, Director of the Program for Women Faculty Affairs (WFA). Established in 2005 in the Office of Memorial Sloan-Kettering President Harold Varmus, WFA seeks to ensure equal professional development opportunities for faculty, regardless of gender. In its first year the program has launched initiatives in communication, promotion, and career development.
To facilitate communication, WFA created an Intranet Web site that posts useful links -- such as the Center's childcare services and expectations for the mentoring of junior faculty by senior staff -- as well as information about the achievements of Memorial Sloan-Kettering women faculty. The site also broadcasts videos of WFA events to women faculty at Memorial Sloan-Kettering regional network sites and provides details of upcoming activities. These include the WFA's monthly Athena meeting -- an informal gathering at which women faculty from Memorial Hospital and the Sloan-Kettering Institute share information and offer mutual support. In addition, WFA holds monthly luncheon discussions and seminars; as of July 2006, 160 women from Memorial Hospital and Sloan-Kettering Institute -- approximately 60 percent of all women faculty -- had attended at least one of these events.
Dr. Liberman encourages recently appointed faculty to be active with regard to promotion and career development by maintaining current curricula vitae (CV), meeting periodically with mentors, and finding a clinical and/or research niche. "Ideally, your focus should be something you love that is of value to the institution, and one in which you can become the expert," she said. In an effort to increase the transparency of the promotion process, WFA has worked with the Junior Faculty Council (JFC) to provide joint seminars highlighting issues important to promotion and career development, such as promotion criteria, teaching, and mentorship.
Dr. Liberman has also collaborated with the Office of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Physician-in-Chief Robert E. Wittes to streamline the promotion process. Because most faculty members have appointments at both Memorial Hospital and Weill Medical College, they have had to maintain two CVs. "We've devised a combined version," Dr. Liberman explained. "It should facilitate all promotions, but especially those of junior faculty, many of whom are women."
Dr. Liberman encourages junior faculty to seek out potential research projects and collaborations early in their careers. In the fall, WFA will join with the Office of the Physician-in-Chief, the JFC, the Sloan-Kettering Institute, the Office of Clinical Research, and Sponsored Projects to launch a series of scientific writing seminars open to faculty of both genders and devoted to the preparation of research proposals and grant applications. WFA will also establish a program in business skills; collaborate with Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Office of Work/Life Initiatives to organize sessions addressing work/life balance and child care issues; and introduce a resource group of Memorial Sloan-Kettering faculty and administrators to provide information, guidance, and mentorship to newly appointed faculty.
Currently, WFA is updating statistics related to appointments and promotions for both women and men at Memorial Hospital. "We're still developing criteria to monitor WFA's impact," Dr. Liberman said. However, the numbers look promising. In 2006 the representation of women on the hospital faculty grew to a full 40 percent. Additionally, of 37 appointments in the past six months, more than half were of women, with comparable numbers of men and women appointed to the senior ranks. "These data suggest that faculty appointments are reaching parity across genders, which is excellent news. Evaluating the success of our efforts in promotions will take more time," concluded Dr. Liberman, "but we're off to a terrific start."
