{"id":5296,"date":"2017-05-25T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/?p=5296"},"modified":"2017-05-24T19:35:24","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T00:35:24","slug":"cant-see-cant-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/2017\/05\/25\/cant-see-cant-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"If She Can’t See It, She Can’t Be It: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is the first in a two part series on role models, leadership and one stellar medic.<\/em><\/p>\n During Ann\u2019s emergency medicine residency, she was often given feedback about the lack of her leadership presence or the inability to \u201ctake control\u201d of the department. At first, she thought this was just an individual failing. But as she started to share her experiences with her female co-residents, she realized they were all told the same thing. Perhaps this shouldn\u2019t have been a surprise, as when she looked at her attendings, the ones modeling leadership behavior, she overwhelmingly saw male faces. Although this example of bias may not seem like that big of a deal \u2013 we have obviously experienced more overt demonstrations of discrimination, such as a consultant slapping an ass or a potential employer telling us that the job may be difficult for a woman \u2013\u00a0it matters. The results of such subjective performance reviews contribute to whether or not women develop into leaders, so we need to take a closer look at the bias influencing them.<\/p>\n According to a 2016 report by the Rockefeller Foundation, 92% of Americans believe that traditions of, and expectations for, male leadership in workplace cultures contributes to women\u2019s lack of representation in top positions.1<\/sup> A recent article in the Harvard Business Review discusses these unseen barriers around the culture of leadership that women face when trying to advance in their careers.2<\/sup> It is not enough for organizations to just place women in roles as chief residents or medical directors, they must also \u201csupport a woman\u2019s motivation to lead and also increase the likelihood that others will recognize and encourage her efforts \u2014 even when she doesn\u2019t look or behave like the current generation of senior executives.\u201d<\/p>\n Ann’s residency was not an exception in its male to female predominance among faculty. Although women make up nearly 50% of medical school classes,3 <\/sup>they only account for 36% of EM residents and 25% of active emergency medicine physicians.4<\/sup> An even smaller percentage are in leadership roles. This phenomenon is not unique to medicine \u2014 only 4% of Fortune 500 companies have female CEO\u2019s.<\/p>\n Although there has been a lot of discussion around the importance of mentors and sponsors in advancing women leaders,5, 6, 7<\/sup> I would argue that there hasn\u2019t been enough of a focus placed on the value of female role models in overcoming implicit bias. A role model is someone who you wish to emulate, someone who inspires you. For women in male-dominated fields, having a female role model may give them the extra encouragement they need to believe that they belong. Furthermore, seeing a woman in a leadership position may help change the subtle biases about what it means to be a leader.8<\/sup> This seems to be especially important to younger women \u2014 82% of women under age 35 say that they value women leaders as role models, and they want more.9<\/sup><\/p>\n But where do we find these powerful women when the numbers aren\u2019t in our favor? Perhaps by sharing the stories of our personal role models, we can create our own alternative binder full of women.<\/p>\n Stay tuned for\u00a0If She Can’t See It, She Can’t Be It: Part 2 tomorrow to meet April Basset, EMT-P!<\/em><\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n This is the first in a two part series on role models, leadership and one stellar medic. During Ann\u2019s emergency medicine residency, she was often given feedback about the lack of her leadership presence or the inability to \u201ctake control\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"Women need female role models! @MGlennEM explains! @ucsfdem #EMSWeek","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[65,29,31],"coauthors":[221],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n