Inspiring and Preparing Our Future Leaders: Evaluating the Impact of the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program

Figures & data

Table 1 The Early Career Women’s Leadership Program

Program goals
1. Clarify personal missions for career advancement. 2. Equip women with skills for professional advancement. 3. Encourage women faculty to create and seek leadership opportunities. 4. Retain women faculty by building a supportive community of peers. 5. Promote and model diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Seminar title	Facilitator’s leadership position and rank	Venue
1. Understanding Yourself and Others: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator	Senior Associate Dean and professor	In-person
2. Building Resilience for Successful Academic Careers	Senior Associate Dean and professor	Virtual
3. Navigating the Currency: navigating institutional systems and building networks	Senior Associate Dean and professor	Virtual
4. Dispelling Myths About Gender and Ethnic Differences in Communication	Senior Associate Dean and Associate Dean (both professors) Panel: one Senior Associate Dean and professor, one associate professor, two assistant professors	In-person
5. Negotiation	Academic Program Director and professor	Virtual
6. Building Your Personal Work/ Life Mission and Saying No	Advisor to the Dean’s office and professor	Virtual
7. Aligning Your Core Values with Leadership Identity and Purpose	Associate Dean and professor	Virtual
8. Best Practices for Mentors and Mentees	Advisor to the Dean’s office and professor	Virtual
9. Being a Well-Being Centered Leader: Why It Matters and How To Do It	Chief Wellness Officer and associate professor	Virtual
10. Graceful Self-Promotion	Executive Director of Faculty Development/Academic Affairs and professor	Virtual
11. Leadership Panel	Senior Associate Dean and professor Panel: One associate vice provost and professor; two endowed department directors (both professors); one endowed professor	In-person

Table 2 Characteristics of Faculty in the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program (ECWLP) Who Consented to the Research Study

Characteristic	All Respondents (n=47)	Respondents who Answered Both Pre- and Post-Program Questionnaires (n=37)
Underrepresented in medicine by race or ethnicity (n [%])	8 (17)	6 (16)
Race (n [%])
White	32 (68)	25 (68)
Asian	6 (13)	6 (16)
Black or African American	1 (2)	4 (10)
American Indian or Alaska Native	4 (9)	1 (3)
Mixed	2 (4)	1 (3)
Prefer not to answer	2 (4)	0 (0)
Ethnicity (n [%])
Not Hispanic	43 (91)	34 (92)
Hispanic	4 (9)	3 (8)
Years at rank (mean [SD])	1.6 (1.2)	1.7 (1.2)
Doctoral degree (n)
MD or DO	27 (58)	19 (51)
PhD	10 (21)	10 (27)
MD, PhD	9 (19)	8 (22)
PhD, DVM	1 (2)	0 (0)
Career path (n [%])^a
Clinician	6 (13)	3 (8)
Clinician-educator	6 (13)	4 (11)
Clinician-scientist	24 (51)	21 (57)
Scientist	7 (15)	7 (19)
Other	2 (4)	2 (5)
Held at least one recognized leadership position during the ECWLP (n [%])
Yes	19 (42)^a, b	14 (38)^c
No	26 (58)	23 (62)

Notes: ^aTwo respondents skipped this question. ^bSome participants held several leadership positions, including: director, co-director, or assistant director of a clinic or clinical program (11); director or co-director of a clinical rotation or course (5); leader of a research program or program within a research center (5); director or associate director of an educational program, such as a fellowship (3); director of a diversity program (1). ^cSome participants who answered the pre- and post-program questionnaires held several leadership positions, including: director, co-director, or assistant director of a clinic or clinical program (9); director or co-director of a clinical rotation (4); leader of a research program or program within a research center (3); associate director of an educational program, such as a fellowship (2); director of a diversity program (1).

Abbreviation: SD, Standard deviation.

Figure 1 Leadership skills and confidence. Self-ratings in leadership skills and confidence in the ability to lead before and after the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program. *p<0.004 (0.05/12 comparisons). ^Tp=0.01. Data are shown as means with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 2 Basic leadership coaching principles. Confidence in applying basic leadership coaching principles before and after the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program. *p<0.006 (0.05/8 comparisons). Data are shown as means with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 3 Alignment between leadership and other factors. Conflict or alignment between pursuing leadership and potential competing factors before and after the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program. *p<0.004 (0.05/12 comparisons). ^Tp<0.05. Data are shown as means with 95% confidence intervals.

Table 3 Example Comments of How Participants Perceived Leadership Before the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program

Attaining leadership requires having an area of academic expertise and accomplishments. Leadership is a path to success and respect. (Expectations and assumptions) Making a positive impact. Achieving goals that affect others. (External drivers)

“My ideal leadership position would be one in which I get to help younger people discover and pursue their goals, advocate for resources for my team, and celebrate the team’s successes – something like a division or department director. I suspect the keys to obtaining one of these positions is being academically successful, being a respected and well-known colleague, and having some prior smaller leadership roles where you can demonstrate the needed skills on a smaller scale”.

Self-doubt mixed with confidence. (Internal driver).

“After recently accepting a new role, I somewhat feel like a leader but at the same time still feel very junior in my role and I have to force myself to truly feel like a leader. I have an idea of where to begin but am not fully confident”.

Competing professional demands. (External driver) Compromise and sacrifice. (Internal driver)

“The goals of a scientist are directly at odds with (the) goals of leadership. Research takes time, attention, and mental energy. The more time you spend doing leadership activities … the less mental energy you have for moving the research forward”.

Though leadership opportunities naturally follow academic success, being a leader does not in and of itself lead to academic success. (Expectations and assumptions)

“I think I have a lot to offer, but I am finding it difficult to show those skills. The expectation seems to be that I would have skills (in) research, writing, and grantsmanship and that demonstrating these would earn me leadership opportunities. But the skills I would bring to leadership – sensitivity, compassion, creativity, transparency, (and) fairness – do not always translate into success in those other pre-requisite domains”.

Being a leader creates work-life imbalance and may be detrimental to personal well-being. (Expectations and assumptions)

“I do feel a conflict between taking on bigger responsibilities, more leadership roles, and protecting time for myself and my family outside of work. I think there is general institutional pressure to work more. … It is important to me to have a life that has some balance – rewarding work but also uninterrupted time for family, time for physical activity and sleep, etc. The leadership opportunities that have been offered to me have often felt like a threat to those things outside of work that I value so much”.

Figure 4 Pre-program leadership perceptions. Views on leadership before participants took the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program. The arrows represent the balance between internal and external drivers.

Table 4 Example Comments from Participants Who Completed the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program and Their Connections to Key Outcomes

Safe space. (Environment)

“This environment was very supportive. I think it was great that it was comprised of early career women, so in small groups we were all in somewhat similar stages of our career and did not feel embarrassed sharing some of our concerns and reservations about our careers”.

Developing greater self-awareness. (Reflection)

“This program was great! First, it helped me find the words for how I was feeling about my career. By identifying my feelings and thoughts, I was able to be more receptive and apply lessons learned”.

Linking core values with leadership goals. Creating a leadership action plan. (Tactical planning) Building resilience. (Skills)

“The program was so timely. I had not realized how much I was struggling and how isolated I felt. The program really helped me find my love for what I do again by making me think about the things that I value and make a plan to align my vision with actions”.

Increased clarity about what leadership involves and requires. (Reflection) Similar experiences shared through diverse perspectives. (Environment)

“Hearing some of the presenters’ stories was inspirational. It was helpful for me to hear that these women (leaders) had similar obstacles that I am navigating now. Hearing the way they handled certain situations was helpful”.

Tactical planning. Mentorship from the perspective of mentee. Communication. Self-promotion. (Skills)

“This program made me more aware of how to navigate early career development and the promotions process. I am now more intentional in how I will spend the next several months to few years. I feel equipped with several strategies – having a broader pool of mentors, not being afraid to ask, not being shy to promote myself gracefully – to help do this”.

Evolving leadership identity. Viewing oneself as a leader. Developing greater self-awareness. (Reflection) Confidence. Prioritizing. (Skills)

“(After completing the program), I am a more open-minded, patient leader. I judge less harshly, am more open to different perspectives, and am better able to advocate for myself. I also more clearly recognize the value that I bring to the table and how I can maximize that by working smarter and managing my time”.

Understanding the connection between core values and leadership. Viewing oneself as a leader. Increased clarity about what leadership involves and requires. (Reflection) Confidence. Mentorship from the perspective of mentee. (Skills)

“This program helped me build confidence in who I am as a researcher, mentor, and leader in this moment, and (it) helped me identify my core values as well as skills that I need to improve on. I previously thought there were only naturally born leaders. However, I now understand that leadership is a skill that is learned over time, both from experience with excellent mentors as well as trial and error in my own leadership opportunities”.

Leveraging networks, relationships, and coaching. (Tactical planning). Peer coaching. (Confidence)

“The coaching was AMAZING and provided so much insight and accountability for me. Interacting with my peers was invaluable as it helped me realize how I was or was not getting what I deserved while expanding my network to find like-minded people that I would not have met otherwise”.

Table 5 Summary of the Faculty’s Common Action Plans and How These Plans Connected with the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program’s Key Outcomes (Confidence, Skills, Reflection, and Tactical Planning)

After program completion
1 month	6 months	12 months
Tactical planning. Communication. Recognition of institutional structure, culture, and power (organizational savvy). Linking core values with leadership goals.
•Follow-up on discussions about budget and other resources that impact programs and projects	•Articulate needs for career growth and request support	•Articulate personal values to clarify why projects are important when discussing goals and priorities with other people
	•Prepare application for promotion	•Apply for promotion
		•Apply for a leadership position
Self-promotion. Motivation to pursue leadership roles.
•Seek recognition for accomplishments	•Apply for leadership opportunities in a professional society	•Seek opportunities to deliver invited lectures and disseminate work
•Advocate to grow and advance clinical and research programs	•Update curriculum vitae to highlight specific accomplishments and their impact
	•Draft own letter of recommendation
Negotiation.
•Negotiate for resources that advance clinical and research programs	•Negotiate for resources beyond salary, like more academic/non-clinical time	•Negotiate for funding
		•Update compensation plan/contract
Mentorship from the perspectives of mentor and mentee.
•Be more direct and intentional when communicating with mentees	•Ask for mentorship from leaders internal and external to the institution	•Create a mentorship framework for the team using regular meetings and accountability
•Request feedback on how to improve as a mentor	•Organize a mentoring committee to advise on research progress	•Create mentorship plans for mentees
	•Encourage others to become mentors
	•As a mentee, take more ownership of tasks
Leveraging networks, relationships, and coaching. Peer coaching.
•Maintain contact with peer coaching group	•Take specific steps to regularly communicate with key people in network	•Form peer coaching groups with colleagues outside of the program
		•Attend conferences with the goal of meeting specific people
Tactical planning.
•Be specific when clarifying and refining short- and long-term goals	•Draft a 5-year plan	•Apply for an independent grant (mentioned by select participants)
•Finish tasks that have been delayed	•Apply for a training grant
Prioritizing. Developing greater self-awareness.
•Consider what to say “yes” or “no” to within the context of priorities	•Let go of responsibilities that do not align with career goals	• Commit to completing a project before agreeing to a new one
	•Reduce the need to achieve perfection and submit manuscripts for peer review	•Concentrate work specifically on projects that align with career goals

Abbreviations: ECWLP, Early Career Women’s Leadership Program; GOOD, Goals, Options, Obstacles, Do; IRB, Institutional Review Board; JHUSOM, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; SD, standard deviation.

Figure 5 Program outcomes. Key outcomes in the Early Career Women’s Leadership Program that participants deemed most beneficial.

Data Sharing Statement

Data will be made available upon request by contacting the corresponding author at [email protected].