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 "The best way to summarize the distinction between mentorship and
sponsorship is as follows: a mentor talks with you; a sponsor talks
about you,” Dr. Reshma Jagsi from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
told Reuters Health in an email.
The new findings, she said, "suggest that differences in sponsorship
may help explain some of the sex differences we see in the outcomes
of careers in (medicine).”
Jagsi and colleagues surveyed 995 researchers who had won NIH
Mentored Career Development grants and who remained in academic
medicine, to determine if sponsorship differs among men and women.
More men (77 percent) than women (71 percent) reported any
sponsorship experience, as well as specific sponsorship
opportunities, the research team reported in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Sponsorship was significantly associated with success: 73 percent of
men and 59 percent of women who reported sponsorship were
successful, compared with 58 percent of men and 49 percent of women
who did not report sponsorship.
“We need to recognize the importance of sponsorship in developing
the future leaders of academic medicine,” Jagsi said. “Those in
positions to serve as sponsors should actively consider all
promising young faculty with whom they interact, and not necessarily
just those who remind them of themselves or come to mind most
quickly.”
Also, she said, "junior faculty who hope one day to lead the field
should recognize the importance of cultivating sponsors who are
willing to risk their own reputations to give them visible
opportunities to demonstrate their abilities."
Dr. Rita F. Redberg from University of California, San Francisco,
who coauthored an editorial related to this report, told Reuters
Health by email, “I was most surprised that both women and men
mentors are less likely to sponsor woman mentees than man mentees.
To me, this drives home how pervasive and how deeply our
differential treatment of the sexes is ingrained. I am sure this
difference was not conscious or intentional by the mentors, but a
problem for women nonetheless.”
“I hope that articles like these that ‘raise the consciousness’
about disparities in opportunities and treatment by sex will be an
important step towards changing the behaviors,” she said. “The
article certainly has had an impact on me, and I have been actively
working to promote opportunities for women in medicine for more than
20 years without specifically thinking of this sponsorship issue.”
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Dr. Anne K. Monroe from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
in Baltimore earlier reported on the gender disparity in top
leadership positions in academic medicine. She told Reuters Health
by email, "These sponsorship opportunities are associated with
academic success, and it’s important to promote equity in achieving
success. Thankfully, it is possible to increase sponsorship, which
can potentially lead to meaningful advances for women in academic
medicine.”
She suggested three possibilities for change: “1) Bring transparency
to the selection process for leadership positions . . . and give all
interested parties the opportunity to apply. 2) Develop systems so
that (senior people meet with junior people) to determine types of
opportunities that are of interest . . . (and) then sponsor them for
those roles. 3) Formally recognize sponsorship – . . . the
Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine now awards an annual Sponsorship Award for demonstrating
commitment to supporting and advancing women faculty and fellows by
acting as a sponsor.”
“If you are senior faculty member in an influential role, i.e.,
someone who controls resources and makes leadership decisions, you
have the power to shape the gender and racial makeup of leadership
positions in your institution,” Dr. Monroe said. “For junior
faculty, recognize the types of opportunities that support your
professional advancement and ask to be sponsored for them.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2kQElNY and http://bit.ly/2lJEVfA JAMA
Internal Medicine, online February 20, 2017.
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