Grow and Advance through Intentional Networking: A pilot program to foster connections within the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative in the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia

Abstract

Background: The Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative in the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia was established to support women's efforts to achieve promotion, leadership positions, and equity in pediatric anesthesiology through coaching, mentoring, sponsorship, and networking. Career advancement relies on the establishment of mentoring relationships within institutions and at regional and national levels. Prior to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, networking was primarily conducted at large national meetings. Aims: When national meetings were canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative sought to reduce networking barriers by creating a pilot program called "Grow and Advance through Intentional Networking" (GAIN). Materials & Methods: Monthly 1-h virtual GAIN sessions were developed based on topics requested by the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative members. Faculty facilitated psychologically safe small-group discussions to maximize engagement. Results:We present an overview of our pilot GAIN program, which has been well received by the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative members and met with continuous demand for more sessions.Discussion: Professional networking is critical for career advancement and for developing and maintaining a sense of community and well-being. Early-and mid-career physicians depend on these relationships to facilitate academic productivity and promotion. Conclusion:Programs like the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative GAIN are critical for advancing our specialty and supporting the well-being of pediatric anesthesiologists. GAIN addresses barriers to professional networking, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluating the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative: Supporting mentorship, career satisfaction, and well‐being among pediatric anesthesiologists

“…Moreover, faculty who have family care responsibilities or cannot easily travel were excluded from conference networking. WELI used virtual meetings to increase opportunities for networking and workshops year‐round 7 . Evaluations for virtual programming had mixed evaluation results over time, perhaps reflecting the challenges of virtual meeting attendance and evolving membership needs over the pandemic.…”

“…Burnout and insufficient support for well‐being are associated with lower leadership effectiveness 10 . Accordingly, WELI places heavy emphasis on supporting well‐being via networking sessions about resilience, adaptability, and other well‐being topics 7 . WELI supports sponsorship by encouraging members to nominate each other for leadership positions and promotion.…”

“…Being selected to be part of WELI became more valuable over time, particularly among advisors. The virtual Grow and Advance through Intentional Networking (GAIN) 7 sessions had mixed results with a median ranking of somewhat valuable across most surveys.…”

Integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum into pediatric anesthesia fellowship training: Another step forward

“…It was with great interest that we read Margolis et al recent publication, Grow and Advance through Intentional Networking: A pilot program to foster connections within the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI) in the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. 1 The authors should be applauded for their efforts. The gender-based discrepancies in pay and promotion between men and people of all genders have been well established in academic medicine.…”

“…We read with avid interest the article published by authors Kim et al titled "The effect of oxygen concentration on atelectasis formation during induction of general anaesthesia in children: A prospective randomized controlled trial"; and we appreciate the author's work toward an area that needs to be explored further. 1 Despite its strengths, a few comments pertaining to the methodology need to be addressed.…”