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The Importance of Role Models in Increasing Women in Radiology
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Educational Perspectives
The Importance of Role Models in Increasing Women in Radiology Richard B. Gunderman, MD, PhD, Jessica L. Houk, BS Key Words: Role models; women; minorities; radiology. © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A
mong the 20 largest US medical specialties, radiology ranks 17th in the percentage of its members who are women (1). Some investigations have concluded that the lack of role models is the single greatest barrier to women who might otherwise consider careers in radiology (2). There is little doubt that a deficit of role models is at least an important factor. To ensure that more female medical students consider radiology as a career, radiologists need to learn more about role modeling, including how to provide more visible female role models for medical students at earlier points in their training. By doing so, radiologists can help to ensure that a higher proportion of top students are giving radiology due consideration. ROLE MODELS Robert Merton, the Columbia University sociologist who died at age 92 in 2003, coined a number of terms that have become staples of conversation in higher education and the professions— among them “focus group” and “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Another of Merton’s novel terms has assumed a central role in our understanding of education: role model. He first used the term “role model” in a study of medical students at Columbia, hypothesizing that individuals take on new responsibilities and identities by comparing themselves to another group of individuals to which they do not yet belong. Medical students model themselves after more senior physicians—residents, fellows, and attending physicians— whose roles they expect to assume. What is taught in a classroom is important, but education is not just the learning of knowledge and skills. It is also learning to talk like, act like, and eventually to think like a more advanced member of a group that learners aspire to join. The emulation of role models plays a particularly important role in the education of professionals. Acad Radiol 2016; ■:■■–■■ From the Indiana University School of Medicine, 702 North Barnhill Drive, Room 1053, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Received September 6, 2016; accepted September 20, 2016. Address correspondence to: R.B.G. e-mail: [email protected] © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2016.09.021
Instructors feed the intellect and motor skills, whereas role models feed the developing self-understanding. Learners who are otherwise well suited to a particular field may not even consider the possibility of pursuing it because they cannot imagine themselves there. Without someone they can emulate, they assume that such a career path is unavailable to them. On the other hand, if medical students see someone they can identify with, they may be able to picture themselves in the role—in this case, the role of a radiologist. Of course, gender, race, ethnicity, and so forth are not the only parameters by which we differ or resemble one another, but they play an important role in the minds of many learners. ROLE MODELING To function effectively as role models, radiologists need to attend to several key features of effective role modeling. To begin with, they need to recognize that they are imparting lessons that go far beyond the formal curriculum, including the level of enthusiasm they evince for their work, how they interact with other people, and the fulfillment they derive from their careers. If women radiologists seem excited about coming to work, enjoy performing and interpreting radiologic examinations, demonstrate a commitment to excellence, interact effectively with patients and colleagues, and convey a sense of satisfaction with the work they do, they are likely to attract more female medical students to careers in radiology. Beyond biological commonalities, the power of role modeling can be enhanced even further by identifying and exploring additional points of similarity. For example, female medical students and faculty members might share the same hometown, the same alma mater, or share marital or parental responsibilities in common. Such shared experiences can help to forge even deeper bonds. When female medical students and their role models interact with one another, the latter can make a point of eliciting and addressing students’ concerns. For example, sharing with a student how a faculty member balances the professional and the personal dimensions of her life can help students picture themselves doing the same, although perhaps in a different way. A final factor that can enhance the effectiveness of role modeling is excellence. This can be simply cognitive and technical. 1
GUNDERMAN AND HOUK
If a radiologist is regarded as particularly good at detecting lesions, performing procedures, or consulting with referring physicians regarding patients’ diagnostic workups and treatments, this will tend to enhance the level of interest of learners in emulating her. But character also plays an important role, and it is equally helpful if the role model is regarded as particularly dedicated, wise, and compassionate. In this respect, lapses on the part of role models can have a particularly deleterious effect. Goodwill and admiration built up over a long period of time can be undermined in a moment. ENHANCING ROLE MODELING To play the role of an effective mentor, radiologists need to be visible to learners. It matters little how effective a radiologist could be as a role model if she never interacts with medical students. This is one reason why it is desirable to have individuals with high potential for role modeling playing highly visible roles in a radiology department. Savvy organizations can increase the prospects for such interactions and the building of such relationships. One means of doing so is establishing a “Women in Radiology” interest group, which can provide regular opportunities for medical students, residents, fellows, faculty members, and administrators to meet and discuss topics of particular interest to women. Such a group might, for example, meet monthly throughout the academic year, with sessions focused on topics such as advocating for women, balancing professional and personal life, building high-quality relationships as a radiologist, special considerations for women in an academic career, and maintaining a positive outlook throughout training and practice. Such a group can also provide opportunities for mentorship. For example, more senior radiologists might offer to meet one on one for coffee with medical students, providing opportunities to discuss matters that learners might not want to discuss in a larger group and also enabling learners to receive more personalized advice and support. Providing opportunities to interact with women in radiology is particularly important in the first few years of medical school, when students are developing a sense of what each medical field looks like, including the types of people who tend to be well represented in it. For this reason, it is also important to engage women as educators in the medical school curriculum. For example, female radiologists might help to teach such courses as anatomy, physiology, and pathology. In each course, radiology offers something new: the opportunity to see human structure, function, and disease in vivo. And when at least a portion of such teaching is done by women, female students are more likely to see radiology as a viable career path. Even at schools where radiology does not have a strong foothold in the curriculum, there are ways to highlight the
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Academic Radiology, Vol ■, No ■■, 2016
role of women in the field. In addition to regular women in radiology programming, the radiology department can attempt to ensure that its female faculty members are well represented in student advising and at career fairs and the like. Of course, it is important for role models to avoid painting an artificially rosy picture. Deceiving learners is never a good strategy, and a crucial part of role modeling is responding gracefully and effectively to difficulties, frustrations, and failures. In many cases, a role model makes a more lasting impression by how she handles a setback than by how she basks in the glow of success. The attitudes and conduct of male radiologists can be equally important. Insensitivity can take a substantial toll, whereas an open and welcoming attitude that manifests sincere appreciation for women’s contributions in radiology can make a big and positive difference. Such outlooks are particularly important at programs with few women. In short, everyone who works in radiology should see himself or herself as committed to attracting the brightest and the best students—a substantial proportion of which are women—to the field. When a lack of good role models prevents a good student from even considering radiology or dissuades him or her from doing so, the entire field loses. CONCLUSION It is important to note that many of the strategies outlined here for enhancing female role models in radiology apply equally well to other under-represented groups. By and large, what makes a person an effective role model and the steps programs can take to enhance opportunities for role modeling extend across all demographic groups. The goal is not to achieve any particular proportion between different minority groups. Instead it is to ensure that learners with high potential never fail to give a career in radiology serious consideration merely because they have never seen or admired a radiologist who both looks like them and faces some of the same life circumstances that they face. In every case, role modeling helps to shape decisions not only about what students want to do but also who they want to be. More than merely assuming a role, they are becoming different professionals and, to some degree, different people. At its best, radiology should show learners that it can provide them an opportunity to become the best physicians and human beings they can be. REFERENCES 1. Chapman CH, Hwang WT, Both S, et al. Current status of diversity by race, Hispanic ethnicity, and sex in diagnostic radiology. Radiology 2014; 270:232–240. 2. Roubidoux MA, Packer MM, Applegate KE, et al. Female medical students’ interest in radiology careers. J Am Coll Radiol 2009; 6:246–253.
Educational Perspectives
The Importance of Role Models in Increasing Women in Radiology Richard B. Gunderman, MD, PhD, Jessica L. Houk, BS Key Words: Role models; women; minorities; radiology. © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A
mong the 20 largest US medical specialties, radiology ranks 17th in the percentage of its members who are women (1). Some investigations have concluded that the lack of role models is the single greatest barrier to women who might otherwise consider careers in radiology (2). There is little doubt that a deficit of role models is at least an important factor. To ensure that more female medical students consider radiology as a career, radiologists need to learn more about role modeling, including how to provide more visible female role models for medical students at earlier points in their training. By doing so, radiologists can help to ensure that a higher proportion of top students are giving radiology due consideration. ROLE MODELS Robert Merton, the Columbia University sociologist who died at age 92 in 2003, coined a number of terms that have become staples of conversation in higher education and the professions— among them “focus group” and “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Another of Merton’s novel terms has assumed a central role in our understanding of education: role model. He first used the term “role model” in a study of medical students at Columbia, hypothesizing that individuals take on new responsibilities and identities by comparing themselves to another group of individuals to which they do not yet belong. Medical students model themselves after more senior physicians—residents, fellows, and attending physicians— whose roles they expect to assume. What is taught in a classroom is important, but education is not just the learning of knowledge and skills. It is also learning to talk like, act like, and eventually to think like a more advanced member of a group that learners aspire to join. The emulation of role models plays a particularly important role in the education of professionals. Acad Radiol 2016; ■:■■–■■ From the Indiana University School of Medicine, 702 North Barnhill Drive, Room 1053, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Received September 6, 2016; accepted September 20, 2016. Address correspondence to: R.B.G. e-mail: [email protected] © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2016.09.021
Instructors feed the intellect and motor skills, whereas role models feed the developing self-understanding. Learners who are otherwise well suited to a particular field may not even consider the possibility of pursuing it because they cannot imagine themselves there. Without someone they can emulate, they assume that such a career path is unavailable to them. On the other hand, if medical students see someone they can identify with, they may be able to picture themselves in the role—in this case, the role of a radiologist. Of course, gender, race, ethnicity, and so forth are not the only parameters by which we differ or resemble one another, but they play an important role in the minds of many learners. ROLE MODELING To function effectively as role models, radiologists need to attend to several key features of effective role modeling. To begin with, they need to recognize that they are imparting lessons that go far beyond the formal curriculum, including the level of enthusiasm they evince for their work, how they interact with other people, and the fulfillment they derive from their careers. If women radiologists seem excited about coming to work, enjoy performing and interpreting radiologic examinations, demonstrate a commitment to excellence, interact effectively with patients and colleagues, and convey a sense of satisfaction with the work they do, they are likely to attract more female medical students to careers in radiology. Beyond biological commonalities, the power of role modeling can be enhanced even further by identifying and exploring additional points of similarity. For example, female medical students and faculty members might share the same hometown, the same alma mater, or share marital or parental responsibilities in common. Such shared experiences can help to forge even deeper bonds. When female medical students and their role models interact with one another, the latter can make a point of eliciting and addressing students’ concerns. For example, sharing with a student how a faculty member balances the professional and the personal dimensions of her life can help students picture themselves doing the same, although perhaps in a different way. A final factor that can enhance the effectiveness of role modeling is excellence. This can be simply cognitive and technical. 1
GUNDERMAN AND HOUK
If a radiologist is regarded as particularly good at detecting lesions, performing procedures, or consulting with referring physicians regarding patients’ diagnostic workups and treatments, this will tend to enhance the level of interest of learners in emulating her. But character also plays an important role, and it is equally helpful if the role model is regarded as particularly dedicated, wise, and compassionate. In this respect, lapses on the part of role models can have a particularly deleterious effect. Goodwill and admiration built up over a long period of time can be undermined in a moment. ENHANCING ROLE MODELING To play the role of an effective mentor, radiologists need to be visible to learners. It matters little how effective a radiologist could be as a role model if she never interacts with medical students. This is one reason why it is desirable to have individuals with high potential for role modeling playing highly visible roles in a radiology department. Savvy organizations can increase the prospects for such interactions and the building of such relationships. One means of doing so is establishing a “Women in Radiology” interest group, which can provide regular opportunities for medical students, residents, fellows, faculty members, and administrators to meet and discuss topics of particular interest to women. Such a group might, for example, meet monthly throughout the academic year, with sessions focused on topics such as advocating for women, balancing professional and personal life, building high-quality relationships as a radiologist, special considerations for women in an academic career, and maintaining a positive outlook throughout training and practice. Such a group can also provide opportunities for mentorship. For example, more senior radiologists might offer to meet one on one for coffee with medical students, providing opportunities to discuss matters that learners might not want to discuss in a larger group and also enabling learners to receive more personalized advice and support. Providing opportunities to interact with women in radiology is particularly important in the first few years of medical school, when students are developing a sense of what each medical field looks like, including the types of people who tend to be well represented in it. For this reason, it is also important to engage women as educators in the medical school curriculum. For example, female radiologists might help to teach such courses as anatomy, physiology, and pathology. In each course, radiology offers something new: the opportunity to see human structure, function, and disease in vivo. And when at least a portion of such teaching is done by women, female students are more likely to see radiology as a viable career path. Even at schools where radiology does not have a strong foothold in the curriculum, there are ways to highlight the
2
Academic Radiology, Vol ■, No ■■, 2016
role of women in the field. In addition to regular women in radiology programming, the radiology department can attempt to ensure that its female faculty members are well represented in student advising and at career fairs and the like. Of course, it is important for role models to avoid painting an artificially rosy picture. Deceiving learners is never a good strategy, and a crucial part of role modeling is responding gracefully and effectively to difficulties, frustrations, and failures. In many cases, a role model makes a more lasting impression by how she handles a setback than by how she basks in the glow of success. The attitudes and conduct of male radiologists can be equally important. Insensitivity can take a substantial toll, whereas an open and welcoming attitude that manifests sincere appreciation for women’s contributions in radiology can make a big and positive difference. Such outlooks are particularly important at programs with few women. In short, everyone who works in radiology should see himself or herself as committed to attracting the brightest and the best students—a substantial proportion of which are women—to the field. When a lack of good role models prevents a good student from even considering radiology or dissuades him or her from doing so, the entire field loses. CONCLUSION It is important to note that many of the strategies outlined here for enhancing female role models in radiology apply equally well to other under-represented groups. By and large, what makes a person an effective role model and the steps programs can take to enhance opportunities for role modeling extend across all demographic groups. The goal is not to achieve any particular proportion between different minority groups. Instead it is to ensure that learners with high potential never fail to give a career in radiology serious consideration merely because they have never seen or admired a radiologist who both looks like them and faces some of the same life circumstances that they face. In every case, role modeling helps to shape decisions not only about what students want to do but also who they want to be. More than merely assuming a role, they are becoming different professionals and, to some degree, different people. At its best, radiology should show learners that it can provide them an opportunity to become the best physicians and human beings they can be. REFERENCES 1. Chapman CH, Hwang WT, Both S, et al. Current status of diversity by race, Hispanic ethnicity, and sex in diagnostic radiology. Radiology 2014; 270:232–240. 2. Roubidoux MA, Packer MM, Applegate KE, et al. Female medical students’ interest in radiology careers. J Am Coll Radiol 2009; 6:246–253.