10/13/06
Janet Bickel
Career Development and Executive Coach Faculty
Career and Diversity Consultant

Participants will increase their abilities to:
• Describe why future-oriented departments are facilitating faculty engagement and career development
• Address critical generational and gender differences in career development
• Maximize their impact as a mentor in the limited time available

• Relentless pressure to generate revenues.
• Emphases on revenue generation eating into academic goals and spirit of volunteerism.
• Little time to develop new competencies.
• Few forum for faculty learning outside their
“silos.”
• Over 20% of faculty report significant levels of depressive symptoms, with higher levels in younger faculty.
• Over 20% reported thinking often of early retirement
(Schindler BA, et al. The Impact of the Changing
Health Care Environment on the Health and Well-Being of Faculty at Four Medical Schools. Acad Med 2006 81: 27-34).

5. Actualization
4. Esteem
3. Love/Belonging
2. Safety
1. Physiological

PREMISES
• A department’s strength depends on its success in recruiting, developing and retaining excellent residents and faculty.
• To be productive, individuals need a collegial environment that fosters development.
• Many Gen Xers, minorities and women are not finding the mentoring they need.
• Everyone can become a more effective mentor.
• Academic medicine needs fresh mentoring and career development strategies

At highly successful companies, most employees respond affirmatively to:
1. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
2. Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
3. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
4. Do my opinions count?
5. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
Source: 1st Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do
Differently by Marcus Buckingham

Items predicting work satisfaction of faculty
1. Colleagues get along well together.
2. Institution treats me as if my work is valued.
3. Have input on decisions that affect my work.
4. Get the help needed from nurses and clerical staff.
5. Enjoy my teaching assignments.
6. Chairperson responds well to faculty needs.
Source: YM Coyle et al. Measuring and predicting academic generalists’ work satisfaction. Acad Med. 1999; 74: 1021-27.

• Critical to faculty vitality
• Intense complexity of and pace of work
• More potential conflicts of interest
• Best candidates seeking
• Must maximize impact in time available
• Heterogeneity meets homogeneity

Disadvantages Minorities Sometimes
Experience in Obtaining Mentoring
• relationships occur most naturally between “like” individuals
• some majority individuals are uncomfortable with ethnic minorities
• face higher hurdles to prove selves to potential mentors
• “surplus visibility”
•the accents of some ethnic minorities interfere with communication
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGES

Women’s Disadvantages in Obtaining Mentoring
•less likely to view mentor as a role model
•more likely to have a mentor who takes credit for their work
•allowed a narrower band of “assertive behaviors”
•leadership potential underestimated
•work an invisible “2nd shift” at home
• miss out on hallway conversations and golf
•paucity of senior woman role models

Boomers (1944-1964)
•Work hard out of loyalty
•Expect long-term job
•Pay dues
Generation X
(1965-1982)
•Find most efficient way
•Expect many job searches
•Entitled to flexibility
•Self-sacrifice is virtue •Not gonna be “24/7”
•Respect authority •“You’re not the boss of me”
Source: J. Bickel and A. Brown. “Generation X: Implications for Faculty
Recruitment and Development in Academic Health Centers.” Acad Med .
2005; 80:205-10.
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGES

• Different views of “work ethic”
• Less respect for “face time”
• “Command and control” will not work
• Traditional measures of success, eg tenure, may not motivate
• Negative value judgments interfering with Mentoring

Mentoring Across Differences
• Discuss important influences and differences
• Avoid assumptions, eg “this approach worked for me but it may not for you”
• Use an exploratory survey with mentees
• Break the ice: Recognize effects of differences in power, gender
•
• Set goals for the relationship (create an agreement?)
• Ask for feedback

Exploratory Survey for Mentees
• What are your aims in the next 1-2 yrs? 5-10 yrs?
• What do you want to accomplish? What measures of success will you use?
• What interdisciplinary relationships do you want to build?
• What if anything do you feel is holding you back from reaching your potential?
• What skills do you need to work on?

•
Create a clear picture of what needs to be accomplished, divided into goals with deadlines
• Focus on outcomes , leaving the how to them
• Give timely and specific feedback
• Discuss options for building skills
• Connect them with other role models
• Encourage peer and group mentoring

• How will you define success in this situation?
• How will you develop the necessary expertise?
• What are your goals and timelines?
• What is your plan for assuring that ..?
• How will you evaluate your progress?
• Let’s agree about the desired outcome, then discuss methods.

Scenario
*Dr. New is a 3 rd year resident. She’s coming to see Dr. Big (the new division chief) for career advice.
*Dr. Big thinks Dr. New would be a valuable addition to his faculty.
Discussion Question:
What does Dr. Big need to be thinking about to prepare for this meeting?

What is interfering with creating a supportive ecology here?
• The “self-made man” assumption
• Competing demands limit faculty availability
• Little time or opportunity for informal interactions
• Mentoring not evaluated
• Mentoring not funded
• ???

Wisconsin Mentoring Seminar
Trains mentors to:
*communicate effectively about time commitments, independence and skills
*regularly assess proteges’ understanding
*address diversity
*discuss mentoring approaches with peers and advisors
*bring rigor and the spirit of experimentation to their mentoring
Source: Pfund C., et al. The merits of training mentors.
311:473-5.
Science . 2006;

*a scaffold for sharing expertise that could otherwise only be attained from experience
*a continuum: not “all or nothing”
*differs by context and role—task-centered guidance and support.
*about life-long co-learning
NB: the “Godfather” model becoming outdated
Source: Pololi, L.H., Knight S. Mentoring faculty in academic medicine. JGIM. 2005; 20:866-70

Collaborative Mentoring Program
• Facilitated peer mentoring
• One-day sessions for 6 months
• Learning outcomes included:
*identification of values-based career goals
*development of close collaborative relationships
*improved job satisfaction
*skills developed in areas key to advancement
Source: Pololi, L.H., Knight S. Mentoring faculty in academic medicine. JGIM.
2005; 20:866-70.

• To attract, retain and engage high performers
• To nurture the academic aspirations of residents and junior faculty
• To swiftly acculturate new members
• To foster a collaborative environment
• To increase stability and productivity
• To promote diversity of thought and style
• To develop leadership talent
• Being a mentor is the most effective way of extending one’s professional contributions