Currently, women make up about 10% of the IR workforce, but the pipeline is looking brighter, with women comprising about 20% of resident trainees in recent years.1 However, studies have demonstrated that up to 40% of women in medicine work less than full-time or have left the profession completely within 6 years of completing training. Further, women make up half of medical school graduates, but on the current trajectory, it’ll be 2070 before women find parity with men as department chairs and residency program directors.
IR has one of the lowest rates of female representation in medicine. The Women in Interventional Radiology (WIR) Section has been extremely effective in their efforts to elevate the profile and expand opportunities for female IRs. However, the labor of equity can’t fall solely on the shoulders of women. As the majority representation in IR, men can and should play a key role in advancing and supporting their female colleagues. There is a lot of systemic work to be done, but change starts at the beginning. For men seeking to be effective allies, many things can be done on an individual level.
Don’t create a culture where women are tolerated. Strive to create a workplace culture where women are welcomed and supported.
Most people don’t want to exist in a space where they’re merely tolerated. The notion of “tolerance” can convey a sense that the subject is intrinsically offensive, unsuitable or out of place. Meaningful professional development will most likely flourish in spaces where people feel genuinely accepted. From there, mentoring, sponsoring and championing nascent talent can foster professional growth. This in turn can attract others who have been historically marginalized to bring their talents into your section.
Be intentional in the culture you create.
People create culture. Be intentional in shaping a workplace culture that is welcoming, flexible and inclusive. For instance, if workplace conversations routinely steer towards professional sports or other niche interests, notice if others consistently don’t engage on the topic or avoid these conversations altogether. Try to balance conversations with other topics that may be more engaging to others. This may not be easy, but it is an opportunity to know your colleagues on a deeper and more meaningful level.
Be aware of your own biases.
To be human is to be biased. Bias relates to a discrepancy between how we view something and the objective nature of the matter at hand. Biases can lead us to have a distorted perspective, resulting in misinterpretation, poor judgment and irrational behaviors. They color most of the big decisions we make. In the workplace, this can affect matters of hiring, firing, managing, coaching, disagreeing with and rewarding colleagues. These biases can manifest in foreseeable patterns.
For instance, if a provider has had a recent but very intense reaction to a rare complication, it often affects their decision-making proximate to the event. This is known as availability heuristic.2 Being aware of such biases is the first step in combatting their negative effects. Be a keen observer of your own workplace environment and how bias is manifested.
Lean into “uncomfortable” spaces.
There have been significant changes in workplace culture over the past 20 years, with more evolution certain to come. Unfamiliar language and concepts may be encountered. Initially, these may seem threatening or uncomfortable, as they can engender feelings of anxiety or even contempt towards change.
Lean into these uncomfortable spaces. Learning more about evolving workplace culture and terms such as implicit bias, privilege and microaggressions makes you a savvier and more valuable team-player. Think of them as intangible “super tools” in your IR kit. IR is a discipline that’s collaborative by its very nature. Avoiding necessary change or inadvertently participating in behavior or language usage that fragments team cohesion may impair the mission of the organization and be detrimental to the patient experience.
Be aware of how you use humor in the workplace and on social media.
There’s nothing quite as tricky to navigate as the use of workplace humor. One person’s jocular pithy quip in morning rounds can be another colleague’s mortifying takedown. Humor should never be wielded at someone else’s expense. The ubiquity of social media has only compounded the complexity of the dynamic. If you choose to have coworkers in your social media spaces, it’s going to be difficult to isolate the effects of your posts from the workplace. Be thoughtful of the followers and social media posts that you curate.
Boston Globe columnist Jeneé Osterheldt wrote in March 2022, “There is a way in which jokes can be wielded as weaponry, a slap across the face, and we all seem to wrestle with when we’ll acknowledge the sting.”3
If you’re not on board, don’t be a barrier.
We know the IR workforce will, eventually, become increasingly diverse. This may not seem like your fight. These matters may not interest you. You might feel comfortable with the status quo. Regardless, we know that we are in a constant state of change. You don’t have to be an advocate, but don’t strive to be a barrier.
What men can do as leaders
Leaders have an important role in supporting and advancing women in the workforce. They set the tone for the entire workplace culture by their example. They shape perceptions of leadership styles within their organization by the management choices they make.5 They are in a position to ensure that policies are crafted in a way that doesn’t perpetuate workplace disparities.
When new members join the team, hardwire support and mentoring into the onboarding process.
Urge new providers to ease into the mainstream and learn the nuances of daily practices with a mentor. An early unnecessary poor outcome could be detrimental for everyone. It can damage the self-confidence of the practitioner and engender distrust from colleagues and support staff.
Have women mentor men.
A positive mentorship experience is mutually beneficial. Having experienced women mentor men early in their career normalizes women as leaders and experts in clinical care. A close mentoring relationship is the surest way to dispel preconceived bias and tighten professional collaboration.
Don’t promote women based on their ability to conform to male-based norms of leadership.
Leadership comes in a myriad of forms. Promoting only people who model male-perceived norms is limiting. Try to seek leaders with a variety of styles and temperament. Research has shown that diverse groups are better at problem-solving and design better solutions. They are more likely to make fact-based decisions, reexamine facts and remain objective. Further, research has shown in companies with higher diversity in gender and ethnicity demonstrated more innovation.
Panel of experts
This column wouldn’t be complete without looking to the experts on this topic within SIR. There have been seven prior female presidents of SIR, and women serve as leaders throughout interventional radiology. This is a compendium of recommendations on how men in IR can be allies for women in IR by women in IR.
Conclusion
We’re a long way from the days of the clubhouse with the “No Girls Allowed” sign nailed to the front door. But we’re just starting to derive the full benefits and richness women bring to IR.
Assimilation is not the goal—authenticity is. Women shouldn’t have to model the behaviors of men to find success. We should strive to cultivate by intention a specialty where women can authentically bring themselves into our specialty for the betterment of workforce and our patients.
References
- Englander MJ, O’Horo SK. “Women in Interventional Radiology: How are we doing? AJR. 2018;211(2):724–729.
- Tversky A, Kahneman D. Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cogn Psychol. 1973;5(2):207–232.
- Osterheldt J. Will Smith, Chris Rock, and the hypocrisy of us all. Boston Globe. March 2022. bostonglobe.com/2022/03/28/arts/will-smith-chris-rock-hypocrisy-us-all
- Rock D, Grant H. Why diverse teams are smarter. Harvard Business Review. 2016. hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
- Madsen SR, Townsend A, Scribner RT. Strategies that male allies use to advance women in the workplace. The Journal of Men’s Studies. 2020;28(3):239–259. doi:10.1177/1060826519883239.
