Here is our D&I update for October.
In my last email, I did not mention that September is Women in Medicine Month because I intended to do a separate email on that subject and now find myself a few days late; I apologize for the delay.
In the Department of Neurology, we have seen significant increases in our female faculty over the past few years, from 30% in 2020 to 39% in 2023. While there is clearly more to be done, we are headed in the right direction. More impressive is that our division chiefs are now evenly split 6 female, 6 male; the vice chairs are 3 female, 5 male. This means we have 45% female leadership among faculty, a massive increase from 8-10 years ago.
Among our projects this year will be a pay equity analysis to ensure that we have not developed a gender pay disparity. This was last examined several years ago. At the time, clinical faculty did not have a gender pay gap, while the research faculty showed a small one. We will reassess during this year as part of our theme of Accountability to ensure we are living up to our ideals of gender equity.
For those of you who are new to the department, I want to make sure you’re aware of the Women in Neurology group led by Drs. Suma Shah and Mariam Wasim. Coming up on October 23, Medicine and Neurology are co-hosting an event for female faculty on the topic of academic promotions in the Trent Semans Great Hall. If you’re interested in joining, please reach out to Dr. Wasim or Dr. Shah.
I also want to take a moment to remind everyone about a chronic source of microaggression against female physicians: the differential use of first names instead of professional titles compared to men. This has been studied objectively but it’s also a readily observable phenomenon. I have been hearing reports of this taking place across some of the Duke Neurology clinics lately, so this is not theoretical. Please, be conscious of this. Female physicians have as much right to the respect of the title “doctor” as male physicians do. That is not to say first names are never ok, but calling the male doctors by title and the female doctors by first name is not. Extending this further, tone and content can also be different when addressing female physicians. If you wouldn’t say something to a male physician, think twice before saying it to a female physician.
Two weeks ago, we had our first D&I Grand Rounds of the year. It was great to see so many in attendance in person and virtually. If you missed Drs. Waszak Geary and Smith Romocki’s presentation, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa9WAtPSAiY
Important upcoming dates:
Sept 29-Oct 15 Pitru Paksha (Hindu)
October: Global Diversity Awareness Month
October: National Polish American Heritage Month
October 9: Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus Day