title: Sponsorship: a path to the academic medicine C-suite for women faculty?
abstract: Despite increases in the percentages of women medical school graduates and faculty over the past decade, women physicians and scientists remain underrepresented in academic medicine's highest-level executive positions, known as the "C-suite." The challenges of today and the future require novel approaches and solutions that depend on having diverse leaders. Such diversity has been widely shown to be critical to creating initiatives and solving complex problems such as those facing academic medicine and science. However, neither formal mentoring programs focused on individual career development nor executive coaching programs focused on individual job performance have led to substantial increases in the proportion of women in academic medicine's top leadership positions.Faced with a similar dilemma, the corporate world has initiated sponsorship programs designed to accelerate the careers of women as leaders. Sponsors differ from mentors and coaches in one key area: They have the position and power to advocate publicly for the advancement of nascent talent, including women, in the organization. Although academic medicine differs from the corporate world, the strong sponsorship programs that have advanced women into corporations' upper levels of leadership can serve as models for sponsorship programs to launch new leaders in academic medicine.
authors: Dr. Travis is associate vice president, Women Faculty Programs, and professor, Departments of Experimental Radiation Oncology and Pulmonary Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Dr. Doty is director, University of Florida (UF) Alzheimer's Disease Initiative Cognitive and Memory Disorder Clinics, UF College of Medicine, McKnight Brain Institute, Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Helitzer is professor, Family and Community Medicine, and associate vice chancellor for research education, Health Sciences Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors: Elizabeth L
authors: EL
authors: Travis
authors: Leilani
authors: L
authors: Doty
authors: Deborah L
authors: DL
authors: Helitzer
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D002321:Career Choice; D002322:Career Mobility; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008611:Mentors; D010822:Physicians, Women; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration; D013192:Staff Development / Q000458:organization & administration; D014931:Women, Working; D000078329:Workforce