In a recent publication, Lewiss et. al asked the following question, “Is academic medicine making mid-career women physicians invisible?” In this perspective piece, they enunciate the very real barriers that stand to accumulate by mid-career (associate professor or 5-10 years on faculty): the effects of ongoing organizational and implicit biases, microaggressions and inequities. Beyond the toll the environment can take on one’s resilience, along with that of the personal circumstances of family life, is yet another disadvantage: the lack of access to the sponsorship that has readily been available to the majority group for decades. At a time when academic advancement relies on recognition in one’s specific area, including opportunities that create a national reputation, women lag behind, are frequently passed over, or not even aware or considered. Along the way, and perhaps even more importantly, women themselves are robbed of the fulfillment, creative energy, and collegiality that arises from involvement in leadership in their field and greater recognition for their work. And, their field is robbed of the talent that it sorely needs to solve its most important problems! It is clear that sponsorship during this mid-career time is lacking for many, and we must be aggressive in our attempt to remedy this. Those networks that have naturally been available to the majority for decades, we now must make readily available to women, who comprise 50% of incoming faculty…Lest there be one more reason for women faculty to abandon academic medicine, taking their talents with them and leaving our community of learners to wonder about their future and its culture.
