Becker's Hospital Review

32 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP Playing golf can lead to academic promotions. But women often are left out of the club. By Alia Paavola O ne reason women struggle to advance in academic medicine is they are often exclud- ed from male-dominated networking activi- ties such as golf, research suggests. The research sought to better understand why wom- en are less likely to reach the top levels of leadership in academic medicine. As of April 2022, just seven of the 71 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers are directed by women. As of 2018, women accounted for 16 percent of medical school deans, 18 percent of department chairs and 25 percent of full-time professors, according to the research report, published April 8 in The Conversation. Jennifer Grandis, MD, a professor of otolaryngology at the University of California San Francisco, inter- viewed 52 female and 52 male faculty members at 16 university medical centers across the U.S. in 2019. In the interviews, Dr. Grandis said 51 of the 52 men and 50 of the 52 women reported that networking is critical for career advancement. Additionally, 73 per- cent of women and 42 percent of men brought up the term "boys club" despite the fact the interview questions never mentioned the term. The interviewees flagged the golf course as one of the most important places networking happens. Twenty-nine percent of men and 38 percent of wom- en said key relationships are built during golf outings. "Big decisions are made on the golf course," one male physician said. A woman in academic medicine said: "All the pow- erful events here happen on the golf course. And it's not like the men are ever going to let you in that four- some," according to the study. The research also found women are absent from oth- er informal networking activities. Of the 52 male in- terviewees, 30 mentioned watching or playing sports, five discussed hunting or fishing and five mentioned strip clubs. "Many women in academic medicine are fully quali- fied to advance to the highest levels, yet they are not represented proportionally," Dr. Grandis wrote. "My research shows that exclusion from networking op- portunities is one of the reasons." n Boosting female leadership in top jobs may mean asking nobody to apply By Georgina Gonzalez T he best way to narrow the gender leadership gap may be to change the promotion process altogether instead of forcing women to change their tactics, according to a study report- ed by Bloomberg April 5. Often, in order to receive a promotion, the candidate must put themselves forward, requiring the confidence to do so. Many wom- en undervalue their own skills and achievements, or fear coming across as too assertive, bossy or aggressive, Lata Gangadharan, PhD, an author of the study, told Bloomberg. Others are also busy caregiving outside of work, meaning they lack the time to apply for a promotion. A group of Australian researchers studied how an opt-out in- stead of opt-in promotion policy affects gender balance of top jobs. Participants in the experiment were tested on their work and the highest performing workers were automatically upgraded to leadership roles. Under the opt-out policy, the management gen- der gap narrowed. In the traditional opt-in policy control group, female top-performers didn't put themselves forward for leader- ship positions. "It's a policy that basically brings a better pool of candidates for managers to choose from," said Dr. Gangadharan. "It's really good for the future of organizations." n 22 cities where the gender pay gap has shrunk By Georgina Gonzalez W hile the gender pay-gap is still growing nation- wide, there are now 22 metropolitan areas in which women under 30 earn the same or more than their male counterparts, according to a March 28 Pew Research Center report. Pew Center researchers used data from the American Community Survey to compare the average sal- ary of young men and women. Here are the 22 metropolitan areas in which full-time, year-round female workers under 30 earn the same or more than their male counterparts, ranked in order of the largest earn- ings differences from top to bottom. 1. Wenatchee, Wis. 2. Morgantown, W.Va. 3. Barnstable Town, Mass. 4. Gainesville, Fla. 5. Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Fla. 6. San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif. 7. Yuba City, Calif. 8. New York City 9. Washington, D.C. 10. San Angelo, Texas 11. Champaign-Urbana, Ill. 12. Lebanon, Pa. 13. Iowa City, Iowa 14. Winston-Salem, NC. 15. Santa Barbara, Calif. 16. Sacramento, Calif. 17. Flagstaff, Ariz. 18. Los Angeles 19. Oxnard-ousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. 20. Richmond, Va. 21. San Luis Obispo, Calif. 22. Honolulu, Hawaii n

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