The Power of Peer Mentoring to Support Women Pharmacy Faculty Personally and Professionally

Abstract

Regardless of a faculty member's career stage, effective mentoring is critical for successful professional development and a thriving academic career. Traditional mentor-mentee relationships can be effective, but may present challenges for some faculty depending on their individual needs and institutional resources. The use of peer mentoring circles, where group members serve as both mentor and mentee, may provide additional resources and benefits to faculty at all career stages and appear especially beneficial for women faculty due to their focus on interconnectedness and collaboration. However, literature is scarce regarding effective mentoring strategies for women pharmacy faculty. As members of one women faculty-only peer mentoring circle, we describe our experiences using this mentoring strategy and offer recommendations for other faculty members considering this approach.

Qualitative evaluation of postdoctoral trainee and faculty advisor experiences within a research-intensive school of pharmacy

“…[ 11 , 30 ] These sentiments align with recent literature on the impact of peer mentoring/support groups within pharmacy. Peer mentoring/support groups can provide a supportive environment that enhances participants professionally (e.g., increased writing productivity, helped navigate promotion expectations, provided a sounding board to resolve conflict among colleagues) and personally (e.g., provided support with work/life integration, helped decompress stress) [ 31 , 32 ]. At the School, efforts are ongoing to promote community building and networking among postdocs, including regular social gatherings (e.g., bagels/coffee), cross-discipline seminars (e.g., mindfulness, self-compassion, resiliency, meditation) and guest panels (e.g., hybrid academic/industry/government).…”

“…To help mitigate the feeling of imposter syndrome, findings from programs outside of pharmacy suggest designing professional development programs and individual development plans that focus on strengthening skills (e.g., academic writing). Since environmental factors can also promote imposter syndrome, the intentional creation of peer support groups and a sense of community may help those who experience this phenomenon [31][32][33]. This may be particularly important as postdocs experience transitions, which can be laborious and emotional in educational settings [35].…”

The Value of Peer Mentoring Networks for Developing Leaders and Inspiring Change

“…One approach to addressing these disparities is through the formation of Peer Mentoring Networks. − While such groups are often assembled to increase the scholarly productivity of participants, they can also be a space in which faculty obtain career advice, gather support from colleagues, and learn strategies for overcoming institutional barriers. Critical to these peer-mentoring groups is that participants act as both mentees and mentors; thus all parties contribute to and benefit from the relationship . Notably, inter-institutional peer-mentoring programs, in contrast to those where all participants are from a single institution, can provide greater confidentiality, an expanded network, and a greater understanding of policies and practices as implemented at different institutions.…”

The Nature and Evolution of the Mentoring Relationship in Academic Health Centers

“…For mentees, the result of successful mentoring relationships is strategic career planning, career advancement and/or promotion, greater feelings of work satisfaction, increase in motivation to continue in academic medicine, and personal growth and improvement (Dimitriadis et al, 2012 ; Goldner & Ofra, 2009 ; Williams et al, 2004 ). These benefits to both mentees and mentors are seen in physicians (Crites et al, 2022 ), nurses (Evans et al, 2020 ; Ortiz, 2021 ), dentists (Al-Jewair et al, 2019 ), pharmacy (Biehle et al, 2021 ), psychologists (APA Presidential Task Force, 2012 ), and other health professions (Henry-Noel et al, 2019 ). Further, the positive benefits of mentoring programs are seen across undergraduate (Evans et al, 2020 ), graduate (Gitlin & Lypson, 2017 ; Wettemann, 2021 ), medical students (Altonji et al, 2019 ), nursing school (Clement & Welch, 2021 ), advanced training such as residents and fellows (Dawkins & Grier, 2021 ), and faculty (Cranmer et al, 2018 ; Ortiz, 2021 ).…”

“…Further, the positive benefits of mentoring programs are seen across undergraduate (Evans et al, 2020 ), graduate (Gitlin & Lypson, 2017 ; Wettemann, 2021 ), medical students (Altonji et al, 2019 ), nursing school (Clement & Welch, 2021 ), advanced training such as residents and fellows (Dawkins & Grier, 2021 ), and faculty (Cranmer et al, 2018 ; Ortiz, 2021 ). The benefits of a mentoring relationship may be particularly helpful for those in underrepresented groups in academic health centers such as male nurses (Ortiz, 2021 ), female pharmacists (Biehle et al, 2021 ), female physicians (Marshall et al, 2020 ), racial minority groups (Dawkins & Grier, 2021 ; Mokel et al, 2022 ).…”