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Represents 4,055 faculty in senior leadership in U.S. medical
schools, Dec. 2005
Source: AAMC Faculty Roster
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Leadership Lesson
Searching for Effective Academic Medical Search Committees
The October 2006 Analysis
in Brief, "An Overview of Women in U.S. Academic Medicine,
2005-06," reported that although the percentage of women among
medical school applicants, students, residents, and faculty has
been increasing in recent years, women are still under represented
among department chairs and medical school deans. For faculty from
certain racial and ethnic groups, the statistics are even more concerning.
The differences in the selection of leaders includes the process
of recruitment and appointment. While associate deanships are often
appointed from within the faculty, chairs and medical school deans
are generally recruited and selected by search committees.
This Leadership Lesson explores the potential reasons behind disparities
in minorities and women in executive leadership positions in the
U.S. medical schools. It summarizes discussions from the 2006 AAMC
Annual Meeting, presents two case-based lessons in search committee
practices, and concludes with a list of references that support
improved practice. At the AAMC Annual Meeting, the Council of Deans,
Group on Faculty Affairs, Women in Medicine, and Group on Business
Affairs convened to address the challenges of effective search committees.
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Dr. Cynda Johnson, East Carolina University School
of Medicine |
"Searching for Diversity: Conducting Successful Searches"
AAMC Annual Meeting, November 2006
"What
can we do to improve the process and outcomes of selection and support
of the leaders of our medical schools?" Dr. Cynda Johnson,
East Carolina University School of Medicine, asked as she introduced
the panel of experts charged with addressing this challenge.
The panel: Drs. William Mallon (AAMC), Susan Shurin
(NIH-NHLBI), M. Roy Wilson (Chancellor, University of Colorado at
Denver and Health Sciences Center), and Virginia Valian (Hunter
College) described current problems with search processes, made
the case for improvements, and proposed new approaches to searches
for academic leadership.
William T. Mallon, Ed.D.
AAMC
William T. Mallon, Ed.D., has had a long-time interest in
improving the process of leadership searches in medical schools.
His initial work collaborating with Dr. Julien Biebuyck is
published in Module 1 of The
Successful Medical School Department Chair, a guide to
good institutional practice.
His current work explores new practices of medical schools
and search firms engaged in recruiting medical school leaders.
Read the feature article for further information, Seven
Fresh Ideas to Help Searches for Academic Leaders Succeed. |
"We need fresh ideas about how to improve searches
for academic leaders."
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"A good search is actually a hunt." |
Susan Shurin, M.D.
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Susan Shurin has extensive experience in leadership recruitments
as a faculty leader at Case Western Reserve Medical School,
as a partner in a search firm, and now as Deputy Director
of NIH-NHLBI. In her remarks, she highlighted the importance
to create an institutional culture that recognizes the value
of everyone's contribution:
"A good search is actually a hunt" on the part
of faculty and staff looking for someone who is successful
in their current position. This means making lots of phone
calls, including phone calls to colleagues who may not be
actively looking for a new job.
Search committee members and everyone else engaged in identifying
and recruiting the best candidate must take an active role
in contacting potential candidates, encouraging them to learn
more about the opportunity, and encouraging faculty and staff
to get to know the candidates better.
A good "match-maker" will help parties focus on
the institutional challenges and opportunities, steer away
from trying to attract a leader as a means of increasing resources,
and align the tasks of leadership with the experience of the
candidates. |
M. Roy Wilson, M.D., M.S.
University of Colorado
Dr. M. Roy Wilson recently was recruited to the position
as Chancellor of the University of Colorado at Denver and
Health Sciences Center. "Social injustices of our past
are seared into our national consciousness," he says.
"We must make the business case for diversity."
This business case leads to a practice of alignment of institutional
resources with core values and is based upon the knowledge
that diversity:
- Enhances student educational outcomes, and
- Improves management and strategic decisions as a result
of broader perspectives engaged in our institutional conversations.
This process requires that the search committee beginning
this process must be diverse, and include senior level minorities
and women from within and even outside the institution if
necessary. It must actively engage in the search as the "job"
of each committee member. His concluding remarks addressed
the importance of support for the final candidate's success
with a focus on retention and professional achievement. |
"We must make the business case for diversity." |
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"Failure to achieve a representative pool is an institutional
failure, not a failure on the part of the people who do not
apply."
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Virginia Valian, Ph.D.
Hunter College
Dr. Virginia Valian of Hunter College concluded the panel
with her reflections on effective search processes. She began
with a reminder that every search committee looks for the
best candidates and seeks the best pool of applicants. The
facts show that somehow disparities in opportunity increase
as leadership advances. These are as true for women and minorities
in medicine as for other professions.
Dr. Valian's expanded comments are available at the Hunter
College Gender Equity Project Web site: www.hunter.cuny.edu/genderequity.
The AAMC data from 2005 supports this observation. For example,
in 2005, despite women representing 16% of all full professors,
only 10% are department chairs. (Analysis
in Brief, October 2006) The question then arises, "How
can disparities in hiring, advancing, and supporting faculty
happen in an apparently egalitarian environment?" Dr.
Valian's research points to the influence of gender schemas
and cumulative advantage
Dr. Valian gives practical advice for increasing the numbers
and diversity of applications for senior positions in medical
schools:
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Make sure the search looks open rather than closed. Search
for several openings at different levels at once and address
diversity of all positions, not just executive leadership.
Improve and communicate the reputation of the department's
attitudes towards women and under represented faculty.
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Set filters for screening applicants explicitly and appropriately.
Identify qualifications in advance to rule out shifting
criteria, but be prepared to reset the filters for everyone
if the search does not yield a strong pool of diverse
candidates. Test the order in which the filters are applied.
Are qualifications assessed before personal characteristics?
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Create enjoyable and informative interviews with every
candidate. Hold workshops for interviewers to reduce subtle
errors in discriminatory or discouraging interviewing,
practice interviewing women and minorities. Display organizational
diversity by having candidates speak to people outside
the department or institution about the nature of the
community. Candidates will be impressed if all interviewers
ask about and are informed of resources for families and
if women and minorities are among those interviewing.
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Gender Schemas
Social hypotheses used to interpret events and people, which
are useful and partially accurate but create problems with
overuse and errors in projections. Gender schemas cause the
standards for who is best for a job to shift depending upon
preconceived notions. |
Case Discussions
Two hypothetical case studies are presented for your self-study
and discussion with colleagues who may be interested in improving
recruitment processes at your institution.
Searching for Diversity: The Best Candidate from the Best Pool
of Applicants
As he prepared his remarks to charge the new search committee for
the Chair of Internal Medicine, the Dean reflected upon his conversation
with the provost three months ago.
The Provost had complimented the experience and skill of the medical
school leadership team, but added, "With the exception of your
Dean for Student Affairs, your executives are all white men. They
don't represent the face of medicine and science as we see it in
the medical students, graduate students, or even the faculty. More
importantly from the perspective of the growth of this university,
that 'same wavelength' that you enjoy has the potential of disenfranchising
you from the communities you need to engage to move forward. The
very students, faculty, and citizens—including patients, suppliers,
and civic leaders—that we serve need to see that their perspectives
are represented in this medical center. Those perspectives will
contribute to your ability to achieve greatness in his institution."
Read the full case with discussion
questions (PDF, 2 pages)
Seeking the Best Candidates: The Search Committee Does Its Homework
"Since when does a search committee member have to study to
serve?" muttered the Chair of Biochemistry as he left the first
meeting of the Search Committee for the new Chair of Internal Medicine.
The Student Affairs Dean responded, "This search is not just
about finding the best man, but simultaneously searching and selling
ourselves as a place that welcomes and nurtures everyone, a medical
school that takes role modeling, entrepreneurship, and professional
diversity seriously. This committee is balanced with men and women,
it has cultural and racial diversity, and it certainly takes a different
tack of starting with our education in university mission and search
bias."
She continued, "I think it would be healthy for us and, to
tell you the truth, it would send a good message to the students
and to the community. I also like using my time this way. I see
it as an opportunity to extend our professional networks across
the campus and the local community—that has to be good for
business, don't you agree?"
The Chair conceded, "I suppose. Yes, you're right. In truth,
I've had some interest in working with the Engineering School on
some new biomedical technology. I hadn't met this dean before, but
it could be a good connection. And I suppose that CEO has some good
benefactors on her board. Let me see that homework assignment again.
I think we each have some reporting assignment for the next meeting."
Read the full case with "homework"
references (PDF, 2 pages)
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