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Toolkit for gender equity in pediatrics

Pediatric Research volume 95, pages 594–597 (2024)Cite this article

The pediatric workforce is increasingly predominated by women1; however, gender inequities in medicine are long-standing, pervasive, have broad roots in cultural and societal bias, and limit women physicians’ career advancement and contributions in medicine.2 Academic leaders have the vision and power to identify inequities, change the system, and support women physicians for them to reach their full potential. We have created a toolkit3 that will raise awareness and provide leaders tools to assess and address gender inequities in their division, group, and institution. The toolkit will be valuable as an educational resource for physicians and trainees and complement recruiting and retention strategies for women in the academic pediatric workforce. The toolkit also provides support for individual physicians to evaluate, advocate for, and advance gender equity in their careers. Though this toolkit initially was written for neonatal–perinatal medicine, it is easily translatable to support all women in other subspecialties.

A toolkit is needed to provide a comprehensive set of resources, strategies, and practical guidance for addressing a particular challenge, issue, or goal. Toolkits are designed to equip individuals, organizations, or groups with the necessary tools and information to navigate complex tasks or situations effectively. We highlight the following reasons for the development of this toolkit for the complex and multi-faceted issue of gender equity in pediatrics.

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Fig. 1: Women in Neonatology Equity Initiative (WiNei) Toolkit for Gender Equity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the additional authors of the toolkit, Dena Hubbard MD, Jasmeet Kataria-Hale MD, Alla Kushnir MD, Lisa Owens DO, and Clara Song MD. The authors would like to acknowledge the design team of the toolkit, Emily Golbeck, Zecilly Guzman, and Diana Madden of the Smith Child Health Catalyst, within the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Funding

The toolkit was supported by an American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Strategic Grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kerri Z. Machut

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Krithika Lingappan

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Renate Savich

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Christiane E. L. Dammann

Authors
  1. Kerri Z. Machut
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  2. Krithika Lingappan
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  3. Renate Savich
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  4. Christiane E. L. Dammann
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Contributions

K.Z.M. and C.E.L.D. wrote the initial draft of this article. K.Z.M. and K.L. created Fig. 1. All authors contributed to the conception and writing of the toolkit, critical revisions of this article, and approve this final version for publication.

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Correspondence to Kerri Z. Machut.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Machut, K.Z., Lingappan, K., Savich, R. et al. Toolkit for gender equity in pediatrics. Pediatr Res 95, 594–597 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02846-1

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