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Journal article
Changing the Culture of Academic Medicine: Critical Mass or Critical Actors?
Journal of women's health (Larchmont, N.Y. 2002), v 26(5), pp 540-548
01 May 2017
PMID: 28092473
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Purpose: By 2006, women constituted 34% of academic medical faculty, reaching a critical mass. Theoretically, with critical mass, culture and policy supportive of gender equity should be evident. We explore whether having a critical mass of women transforms institutional culture and organizational change. Methods: Career development program participants were interviewed to elucidate their experiences in academic health centers (AHCs). Focus group discussions were held with institutional leaders to explore their perceptions about contemporary challenges related to gender and leadership. Content analysis of both data sources revealed points of convergence. Findings were interpreted using the theory of critical mass. Results: Two nested domains emerged: the individual domain included the rewards and personal satisfaction of meaningful work, personal agency, tensions between cultural expectations of family and academic roles, and women's efforts to work for gender equity. The institutional domain depicted the sociocultural environment of AHCs that shaped women's experience, both personally and professionally, lack of institutional strategies to engage women in organizational initiatives, and the influence of one leader on women's ascent to leadership. Conclusions: The predominant evidence from this research demonstrates that the institutional barriers and sociocultural environment continue to be formidable obstacles confronting women, stalling the transformational effects expected from achieving a critical mass of women faculty. We conclude that the promise of critical mass as a turning point for women should be abandoned in favor of critical actor leaders, both women and men, who individually and collectively have the commitment and power to create gender-equitable cultures in AHCs.
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Details
- Title
- Changing the Culture of Academic Medicine: Critical Mass or Critical Actors?
- Creators
- Deborah L. Helitzer - University of New MexicoSharon L. Newbill - University of New MexicoGina Cardinali - University of New MexicoPage S. Morahan - Drexel UniversityShine Chang - The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterDiane Magrane - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Journal of women's health (Larchmont, N.Y. 2002), v 26(5), pp 540-548
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- UL1 TR000041 / National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health UL1TR000041 / NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCING TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) 1R01 HD064655-01 / NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Medicine; [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000401623900020
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85019365930
- Other Identifier
- 991019167743804721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Women's Studies