Sophia Frangou Editor Women in Academic Psychiatry A Mind to Succeed 123 Women in Academic Psychiatry Sophia Frangou Editor Women in Academic Psychiatry A Mind to Succeed 123 Editor Sophia Frangou Department of Psychiatry Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, NY USA ISBN 978-3-319-32175-2 ISBN 978-3-319-32177-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32177-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944473 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland Preface Barely a day goes by without a news or an academic article about the status of women in science and medicine. They paint a remarkably consistent picture of gender inequality that seems to transcend national and institutional boundaries. No matter what measure is used, from salaries to promotion [1], to grant funding [2, 3], and to academic publishing [4]; women fare worse than similarly qualified men. Not surprisingly, they are more likely to leave research and academic life. Although there has been progress, the gender gap stubbornly refuses to go away. The issue of the “vanishing women” is perhaps most acute in academic psy- chiatry. This is because for more than two decades, psychiatry has been among the medical specialties with the highest proportion of women entering residency pro- grams [5]. The percentage of women in junior academic positions in psychiatry is also high and consistently higher than that of men. However, the number of women in positions of leadership remains disproportionally low. In the USA, for example, only 13 % of department chairs in psychiatry are women [1]. My personal journey from medical school graduate of the University of Athens to trainee psychiatrist at the world-famous Maudsley Hospital and to senior faculty, first at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, and now at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has provided the impetus for this book. It has been a journey full of amazing encounters. I have had the privilege of meeting many extremely accomplished women, true trail blazers, both as scientists, clinicians and role models. I have also had the responsibility of helping younger women navigate their own voyage through the stormy waters of academia as a program director for academic trainees for over a decade and as a mentor to my graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. The book reflects the duality of my experiences. The first part “They Did It Their Way” starts with profiling 15 women that hold positions of leadership within academic psychiatry. They have been very brave in their willingness to provide intimately personal, very honest, and extraordinarily moving accounts of their own journeys. Their stories are not just accounts of professional success. They are powerful tales of self-determination and empowerment. A striking feature they all share is their desire to pursue their dreams and remain true to their selves and their v vi Preface generosity in opening up their lives to women everywhere. There is of course no single pathway to academic success but reading these stories can help distill useful lessons. The second part of the book therefore aims to signpost the “snakes” and to highlight the “ladders” of the academic world. Very few are gender specificin themselves but they affect women disproportionally and they prevent the gender gap from closing. I hope that the messages conveyed in these chapters will provide opportunities for self-reflection and inspiration for future action. Some may argue that writing a book such as this implies that the problem with the gender gap is women themselves. This was exactly what I was told early on in my career. A senior female colleague advised me to stay away from any women- centered initiative because these were only for women that were not “good enough” to make it on scientific merit alone. This was and is bad advice and a key example of how some women internalize and propagate negative societal attitudes about ourselves. Others may also argue that in order to close the gender gap we need to focus on societal and institutional barriers. This is of course true but meaningful change can only happen through the coordinated activity of a critical mass of likeminded people, women and men. This is why this book is not just for women. It is also for those men who, either as partners, fathers, brothers, mentors, or leaders, are interested in understanding the female perspective on the gender gap and are motivated to strategize change. I have met many men who declared that they had no idea about the problems and barriers women faced. Initially I tended not to believe them as these problems were both tangible and obvious to me. However, I now think otherwise. Male myopia when it comes to the gender gap is real and needs to be addressed if we are to transform our working environment. The hope with “Women in Academic Psychiatry: A Mind to Succeed” is that it will show to all readers, women or men, that change is possible. There are many more women than those contributing to this book that are engaged in this process of change. Success in closing the gender gap is a group process that also critically depends on individual efforts and achievement. Although this book is focused on psychiatry, it contributes to a wider societal effort to understand what underpins discourse on gender equality in leadership. New York, NY, USA Sophia Frangou References 1. American Association of Medical Colleges. The state of women in academic medicine, the pipeline and pathways to leadership. 2014. https://www.aamc.org/ newsroom/aamcstat/,a=418758. 2. Rockey S. Women in biomedical research. 2014. https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/ 2014/08/08/women-in-biomedical-research/. Preface vii 3. European Research Council. Gender statistics. 2014. https://erc.europa.eu/sites/ default/files/document/file/Gender_statistics_April_2014.pdf. 4. Filardo G, da Graca B, Sass DM, Pollock BD, Smith EB, Martinez MA. Trends and comparisons of female first authorship in high impact medical journals: observational study (1994–2014). BMJ. 2016;352:i847. 5. American Association of Medical Colleges. Report on residents. 2015. https:// www.aamc.org/data/448474/residentsreport.html. Contents Part I They Did It Their Way 1 Lynn E. DeLisi .......................................... 3 2 Judith M. Ford .......................................... 11 3 Ellen Frank ............................................. 17 4 Sheila Hollins............................................ 23 5 Hilleke Hulshoff Pol ...................................... 31 6 Eve C. Johnstone......................................... 37 7 Shaila Misri ............................................. 47 8 Antonia New ............................................ 55 9 Mani Pavuluri ........................................... 63 10 Mary Phillips ............................................ 69 11 Natalie Rasgon........................................... 75 12 Marcella Rietschel ........................................ 79 13 Nina Schooler ........................................... 87 14 Patricia Suppes .......................................... 93 15 Carol A Tamminga ....................................... 99 16 Danuta Wasserman ....................................... 105 Part II Plan Your Way 17 The Pursuit of Happiness .................................. 117 18 External Barriers: Societal Attitudes ......................... 121 19 Internal Barriers ......................................... 125 20 Putting Yourself First ..................................... 129 ix x Contents 21 Putting Yourself Forward.................................. 133 22 Project Confidence ....................................... 137 23 Be Visible............................................... 141 24 Be Memorable ........................................... 145 25 Be Connected............................................ 149 26 Be Persistent ............................................ 153 Index ...................................................... 157 Contributors Lynn E. DeLisi VA Boston Healthcare System, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA Judith M. Ford Department of Psychiatry, San Francisco VA Medical Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA Sophia Frangou Department of Psychiatry, Icahn