Can Mentorship Shatter the Glass Ceiling in Academic Microsurgery? A National Survey of Microsurgery Fellowship-Trained Women in Academia.
Can Mentorship Shatter the Glass Ceiling in Academic Microsurgery? A National Survey of Microsurgery Fellowship-Trained Women in Academia.
- 2023
BACKGROUND: The "leaky pipeline" phenomenon has caused women to remain underrepresented at higher levels of academic plastic surgery. No study has considered the availability of mentorship within any subset of academic plastic surgery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current representation of women in academic microsurgery and to determine the impact of mentorship on career progression. CONCLUSION: Evidenced by female trainees being unable to find female mentors and low rates of mentorship at the attending level, there is currently not enough capacity to meet the demand for female mentorship by women pursuing academic microsurgery. Many individual and structural barriers to quality mentorship and sponsorship exist within this field. Copyright � 2023 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. METHODS: An electronic survey was designed to determine the availability and quality of mentorship respondents received at different stages of their career (from medical student to attending). The survey was distributed to women who completed a microsurgery fellowship and were current faculty at an academic plastic surgery program. RESULTS: Twenty-seven of 48 survey recipients participated (56.3% response rate). Most held an associate professor (20.0%) or assistant professor (40.0%) position. Respondents had an average of 4.1 + 2.3 mentors throughout their entire training. A minority of mentors were microsurgery-trained (28.3%) and only 29.2% of respondents reported female mentorship throughout their training. Attendings least often received formative mentorship (52.0%). Fifty percent of respondents sought female mentors, citing that they desired female insight. Of those who did not seek female mentors, 72.7% cited a lack of access to female mentors.
English
0032-1052
00006534-990000000-01769 [pii] 10.1097/PRS.0000000000010570 [doi]
IN PROCESS -- NOT YET INDEXED--Automated
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Surgery/Plastic Surgery
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital/MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Plastic Surgery Residency
Journal Article
BACKGROUND: The "leaky pipeline" phenomenon has caused women to remain underrepresented at higher levels of academic plastic surgery. No study has considered the availability of mentorship within any subset of academic plastic surgery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current representation of women in academic microsurgery and to determine the impact of mentorship on career progression. CONCLUSION: Evidenced by female trainees being unable to find female mentors and low rates of mentorship at the attending level, there is currently not enough capacity to meet the demand for female mentorship by women pursuing academic microsurgery. Many individual and structural barriers to quality mentorship and sponsorship exist within this field. Copyright � 2023 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. METHODS: An electronic survey was designed to determine the availability and quality of mentorship respondents received at different stages of their career (from medical student to attending). The survey was distributed to women who completed a microsurgery fellowship and were current faculty at an academic plastic surgery program. RESULTS: Twenty-seven of 48 survey recipients participated (56.3% response rate). Most held an associate professor (20.0%) or assistant professor (40.0%) position. Respondents had an average of 4.1 + 2.3 mentors throughout their entire training. A minority of mentors were microsurgery-trained (28.3%) and only 29.2% of respondents reported female mentorship throughout their training. Attendings least often received formative mentorship (52.0%). Fifty percent of respondents sought female mentors, citing that they desired female insight. Of those who did not seek female mentors, 72.7% cited a lack of access to female mentors.
English
0032-1052
00006534-990000000-01769 [pii] 10.1097/PRS.0000000000010570 [doi]
IN PROCESS -- NOT YET INDEXED--Automated
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Surgery/Plastic Surgery
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital/MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Plastic Surgery Residency
Journal Article