Barriers and facilitators to women's career advancement in academic medicine

Women physicians and scientists not only contribute diverse perspectives that innovate research and enhance academic cultures, but are also more likely to broaden institutional research aims to include more issues relevant to the health of women and girls. Therefore, advancing women in academic medicine is critical for improving women's health and for ensuring the future competitiveness of U.S. science and technology. Although women and men are near parity in early career stages, women are significantly less likely than men to persist in academic medicine beyond the transition from mentored to independent research. NIH's Mentored Career Development (K) Awards traditionally bridge faculty working toward independence. Women and men have similar application and success rates for K awards, but women are less likely than men to subsequently apply for or obtain independent research program funds. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Women's Health Research (CWHR) we are using mixed-methods to investigate reasons for gender differences in academic medicine career persistence. This presentation will overview barriers and facilitators to faculty's transition to independent research identified in a study involving semi-structured interviews with past K awardees from UW-Madison. Qualitative interview data will be contextualized by quantitative analysis of K awardees' subsequent application and success rates for independent research program funds. Results from qualitative text analysis of K awardees' grant reviews will also be shared.