Women of Color: Leadership, Retention, and Toxic Environments (IDEAS) - May 21

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Despite the increasing number of women entering and graduating from medical schools, as well as biomedical graduate schools, and obtaining faculty positions, women of color are not attaining leadership at the same rate as white women. There continues to be a paucity of women of color advancing to full professor, department chair, or medical school dean.

The most recent data from the AAMC reported that Black and Hispanic women represent 3.9% of all faculty and 1.8% of full professors, where white women comprise 26% of all faculty and 20% of all full professors. In addition, white men comprise 76% of department chairs, white women comprise 18%, and women of color only account for 3.1% of department chairs. (Source: AAMC Faculty Roster Report, "U.S. Medical School Faculty", 2023.)

There are many barriers that have prevented and have made it difficult for women of color to advance to senior leadership positions, including but not limited to, racism, isolation, toxic work cultures, minority tax, lack of mentorship, coaching, and sponsorship, and inequities in financial compensation. Therefore, to improve these alarming statistics and increase the number of women of color in leadership positions in academic medicine, it is vital that women of color have access to inclusive and non-toxic work environments, equitable opportunities, support, and resources to attain and maintain these positions successfully.

This session will describe the challenges women of color face in achieving and maintaining leadership positions in academic medicine and identify factors that lead to inclusive, supportive, and equitable work environments.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the challenges that women of color face in achieving and maintaining leadership positions in academic medicine.          
  2. Identify the characteristics of work environments that lead to the success of women of color in academic medicine.
  3. Discuss helpful strategies for women of color to navigate toxic environments. 
  4. Discuss the role that leaders have to create inclusive, supportive, equitable work environments.

About IDEAS
The AAMC IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-racism) Learning Series provides actionable information about DEI strategies that you can put into practice to become a more effective and successful leader, educator, and member of the academic medicine community.

Erika T. Brown, PhD

Dean for Faculty Affairs
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

As Dean for Faculty Affairs since 2021, Dr. Brown oversees all aspects of appointments, titles, and promotions for Geisel faculty members situated at the three primary sites that constitute the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (the Geisel campus in Hanover, NH, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic/Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital campus in Lebanon, NH, and the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, VT) and at clinical affiliates throughout the United States and international locales.

Dr. Brown has experience in faculty affairs, professional development, and in accreditation and assessment. In her previous role, she built an effective and resourceful office to develop and sustain the faculty—encompassing recruitment, on-boarding, retention, promotion, career guidance, and professional development for all academic ranks, including courses and ongoing workshops with an emphasis on junior faculty.

Dr. Brown serves as the Geisel liaison to the Dartmouth College Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity for faculty hiring and is a Deputy Title IX coordinator.

Ana E. Núñez, MD, FACP

Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Professor of Medicine
University of Minnesota Medical School

Dr. Núñez is a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College where she continued a residency and chief residency in internal medicine. She then completed fellowships in medical education at Michigan State and the AAMC’s Health Service Research Program, as well as serving as a policy fellow for the U.S. Secretary of Health.  

Prior to joining the University of Minnesota nearly four years ago, she had a productive career at Drexel University College of Medicine where she served as the inaugural Associate Dean of DEI, and prior to that led the Office of Urban Health Equity, the national Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and Women’s Health Education program and early in her career was Associate Residency Director. Dr. Núñez's research career focus has involved funded projects in health disparities for urban minority populations, especially women and cardiovascular health, integration of health disparity knowledge into medical education, prevention of intimate partner violence, and cultural competence in medical practice. In 2022, she was named one of Fierce Healthcare’s Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare.

Dr. Núñez currently resides in Minneapolis with her pediatrician wife of 39 years in a home overlooking one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes.  She enjoys exploring the many outdoor opportunities that the region offers.

Andrea Hayes Dixon, MD, FACS

Dean
Vice President of Clinical Affairs
Howard University College of Medicine

Dr. Andrea Hayes Dixon FACS is the Dean of Howard University’s College of Medicine and Vice President of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Hayes Dixon is the first African American female pediatric surgeon in the USA and the first female Dean at the HUCOM. She is nationally and internationally known for her work pioneering Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor, DSRCT. Her patients request her services from around the world because she was the first to do hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, HIPEC, and cytoreductive surgery in a child. Dr. Hayes Dixon has a basic science laboratory that focuses on finding a cure for DSRCT. She has cared for the largest number of DSRCT, patients at any one hospital and by any one surgeon. Dr. Hayes Dixon was appointed by President Trump to the National Cancer Advisory Board. (The National Cancer Advisory Board reports to the Director of the National Cancer Institute and the Secretary of Health). Dr. Hayes Dixon has published over 160 manuscripts and dozens of book chapters.

Allison C. Augustus-Wallace, PhD, MS, MNS, DEIC (moderator)

Associate Professor-Research
Director, Undergraduate Academic Pathway Programs for Diversity
Dept. of Medicine & Office of Diversity and Community Engagement
LSUHSC New Orleans, School of Medicine

Dr. Allison C. Augustus–Wallace leads and has several roles regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Affairs committees and educational initiatives in the LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans (LSUHSC-NO) Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies for Faculty/Staff/Professional Students (Medical and Biomedical). Through leadership responsibilities that promote equitable inclusivity, she works to promote greater educational access, increase the presence of historically-excluded and marginalized groups of people in both medicine and biomedical research, and promote health equity and improved health outcomes for marginalized and overall collective communities.

In 2020, Dr. Augustus-Wallace earned Certification in Diversity, (Equity), and Inclusion from Cornell University. In addition to serving in active roles with Sigma Xi such as the Associate Director of the Research and Doctoral Universities Constituency Group, as well as a member of the 2022 and 2023 IFoRE Meeting Planning Committees, Dr. Augustus-Wallace is an active member of other professional organizations: the Maximizing Access Committee of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; the Health Professions Chapter of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education; the AAMC Group on Women in Medicine & Science Steering Committee; the Editorial Board of the AAMC’s peer-reviewed journal, Academic Medicine; the NIH-Women of Color Research Network; the Law Committee of the American Public Health Association; the Association of Women in Science-National & Southern Louisiana-LSUHSC Chapter; and others.

Kimberly A. Bibb, MD (moderator)

Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine
University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC)

Dr. Bibb is a dual board-certified Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine physician. She has played an integral role in the establishment of the UMMC Weight Management Clinic where she focuses on educating patients on the importance of developing healthy lifestyles and providing appropriate treatment for obesity and other chronic diseases. Her scholarly work focuses on various obesity medicine topics and improving medical education related to obesity medicine for medical students and residents. Dr. Bibb serves as Co-Chair of her department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Obesity Medicine Association.

Dr. Bibb served four years on the UMMC Group on Women in Medicine Science (GWIMS) Executive Board as Membership Committee Chair, President-elect, President, and Immediate Past President. She is currently serving a three-year term on the AAMC GWIMS Steering Committee where she has been actively involved as a co-facilitator for the following GWIMS Virtual Office Hours, “Women’s Leadership Programs”, “Starting and Maintaining a WIMS Group”, and “Taking Your WIMS Group to the Next Level”. She has also co-authored the AAMC GWIMS Toolkits, "Maintaining a WIMS Program" and “Strategies for Advancing the Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine”. In addition, Dr. Bibb is currently serving as Co-Chair of the GWIMS Women of Color Working Group and as a member of the GWIMS Awards and Nominations Working Group and the GWIMS Voter Education Working Group. Dr. Bibb serves as Co-Chair of her department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Obesity Medicine Association.

Components visible upon registration.