Assessing perceived effectiveness of career development efforts led by the women in American Medical Informatics Association Initiative

Quantitative analysis

Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographic variables and Likert-scale (1 to 5) responses about respondent priorities and effectiveness ratings for events and programs. Missing age was imputed as 41–50 years (n = 1). Responses of 4 and 5 on Likert scale were considered as “effective” for career development efforts or as “significant” for unmet needs/career obstacles and were summarized across age, career stage, and career domain. All questions were optional. If a respondent skipped a question, their response was excluded from the denominator for percentage calculation.

Qualitative analysis

A thematic analysis approach was used to code the open-ended responses.¹⁶ Two researchers (JA and research assistant) read responses multiple times for familiarization with the content, and independently conducted open coding using initial data-driven codes. Both researchers independently compared open codes across responses to identify any repeated and interrelated codes and categories which formed subthemes. Similar subthemes were grouped over multiple rounds of review to generate overarching topics and themes across the data to align them with the main topics covered in the survey questions. Final themes and subthemes were discussed and refined between researchers until 100% consensus was reached.

Social (formal and informal) events

Most respondents agreed that social events in AMIA meetings on gender-specific challenges in career development were somewhat or very effective, and only very few members indicated they had limited awareness of social events being organized. Some respondents listed building social networks and collaborations as important priorities in professional development and felt that “diversity and inclusion seminars [were] hot topics (Respondent #108, R108).” Other respondents stated that formal and informal networking opportunities were helpful and extensive, such as the AMIA 10×10 class projects. For more casual social events, others suggested it might even be helpful to “have periodic virtual café/meetup times—not necessarily on Zoom, but on a platform that could simulate a virtual mingling and social time (R14)” to encourage communication and networking.

However, a few respondents strongly suggested male participation in these events, arguing that female empowerment did not exist in a vacuum, and there was a “need [for] more awareness amongst male colleagues about how they can be active allies (R5).” A few other respondents agreed that AMIA should expand program inclusiveness and encourage even gender distribution across events for fruitful sessions.

Panel discussions

Of those who felt that panel discussions on gender-specific challenges in career development were somewhat or very effective, many spoke highly of the Women in AMIA-sponsored panels, describing them as “useful for informatics in the #metoo world (R17).” Most respondents who responded called for more diversity in the form of women-led panels, research-related panels, and conferences incorporating male allies.

Identified barriers to panel effectiveness included timing and lack of buy-in on content. As one respondent stated: “the trouble with panels is that they mean you can’t go to something else, and the sessions are usually not helpful (R75).” Another respondent lamented that “some of these (events), I was just unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts. Others (events) I skipped, I couldn’t relate to the speakers, or I was honestly skeptical about their ability to address work-life balance, for example (R32).”

Scientific sessions

Only one respondent commented on the effectiveness of scientific sessions, requesting that AMIA “provide scientific and networking sessions recommending ways/providing opportunities for women to participate in leadership (R48).” Examples included how to apply for a board position and how to apply to become a Fellow of AMIA (FAMIA).

Workshops and workgroups

Workgroups such as the Nursing Informatics Workgroup were touted as engaging and inclusive by 8 respondents. One respondent stated that these workgroups provided opportunities to “build skills (R71).”

Most workshop feedback centered on leadership sessions, with many respondents requesting more leadership-building activities. Other workshops that respondents wanted to see included workshops on preparing documents for academic career searches and writing techniques. Regarding other workshop subjects, one respondent suggested that AMIA conduct “polls for workshops on informatics hot topics (R50).”

The primary barrier to workshop effectiveness again involved timing. A few respondents felt that existing workshops were effective but suggested that, in addition, AMIA should conduct “focused workshops outside of meetings that provided affordable training in focused areas (R5)” to avoid long multisession training. This was seen as more feasible and helpful to others.

Leadership nominations

Almost all respondents felt that nominating women for AMIA leadership was an effective step towards gender-proportional representation. When questioned about leadership nomination, one respondent stated that “[they] like the informal calls and the offers of senior people [mentors] to nominate others (R110),” but noted that it was usually from other women as well. A few others agreed and suggested that AMIA provide “sponsorship and personal invitations from those who are already leaders (R3),” emphasizing that men should reach out, not just women. Some respondents noted that based on website instructions, the nomination process for AMIA leadership positions was not always clear. As a solution, they suggested that email reminders would help encourage the nomination of women into AMIA leadership. Along with email reminders, one respondent also requested that within nomination emails, AMIA could provide direct links to information on AMIA’s website about “what positions are elected (and why), opportunities to access leadership training (and how to do it), and easy instructions and processes to self-nominate (R5).” These, along with examples of completed and effective nomination materials, could help respondents understand how to go through the process. Example respondent comments related to the effectiveness of WIA career development efforts are provided in Table 3.

Leadership training

Most respondents agreed that leadership training opportunities within AMIA were effective steps towards gender-proportional representation in AMIA leadership. One respondent highly praised AMIA’s approach, noting the substantial number of women in leadership and commenting that she would also love to “have a chance to meet and talk with this group of high-achieving women during a special event (R30).” A few other respondents also felt that the leadership training was very effective but also recommended designing a virtual leadership program at less cost to increase participation and to benefit those unable to attend in person. Additionally, respondents stated that seeing women in leadership and having female mentors throughout the program was empowering and provided support and connections with other women in the field. One respondent suggested asking women in leadership roles to share their experiences and become even more visible, to further encourage other women to take on similar leadership roles (R67).

Career obstacle: work–life balance

In addition to childcare concerns, most respondents also felt stressed by the work–life balance upended by COVID-19. According to one respondent, “there is no boundary between work and family, and there is much more work required to bring groups together and create a feeling of community (R5).” Furthermore, others were frustrated with the approach to productivity across workplaces, complaining that “colleagues with few or no responsibilities at home are very productive and setting the standard of productivity during [COVID-19], which is unrealistic for everyone else (R83).” These challenges led to mental health issues, as reported by several respondents.

Career obstacle: difficulty in building connections

Several respondents highlighted barriers around building new connections within the AMIA community. The majority of the respondents voiced their perspectives on how to address this career obstacle and their contributors—by incorporating more formal and purposeful efforts towards mentorship classes, building grant skills and industry-researcher partnerships, increasing awareness of WIA strengths and research areas, and lastly, more recognition of nontraditional and nonclinical informaticists, as stated: “Support and value all areas of clinical informatics expertise, not just M.D. and R.N. informatics. Many non-MD/R.N. with PhDs in informatics exist, yet they are unable to be grandfathered in if newer and not qualified for clinical informatics boards. AMIA is excluding these professionals which often have skills/expertise lacking in MD/RN training (R90).”

Career obstacle: gender bias

Respondents shared their sentiments around diversity, equity, and inclusion, specifically around combating existing disparities among genders and also towards developing negotiation skills for equal pay across the board. This is best exemplified by: “Offering sessions, webinars, on how women, new grads, diverse individuals and skills/experiences, etc. can attain better fitting informatics positions, equal pay as men/across all diversifications, etc. and are valued equally across profession. Disparities need to be overcome (R15).”

Unmet needs: increasing networking opportunities and connections

Across most respondents, a significant challenge due to COVID-19 was lack of mentoring and networking opportunities. One respondent agreed that providing “community interactions, connections, networking, facilitating interactions across diverse groups” was important, but also giving opportunities to “those with common connections to cross pollinate and support each other in the informatics community (R15)” was equally invaluable to success for a woman in informatics. However, a couple of respondents worried that networking events might feel inaccessible to women who were early in their careers. Thus, many strongly encouraged carving out innovative approaches for mentors and mentees to seek each other out and sustain their relationships.

To combat the limits of current socializing events, some suggested holding informal Zoom sessions to build connections. One respondent mentioned that “a number of clinical professional organizations have had great virtual meetings, including networking, and virtual beach party mixer with [drinks and party favors]. They also had networking trivia night/online games, and other ways to engage in a fun manner (R15).” Others agreed that interactions through other events were important as well, and a few noted that JAMIA journal club and working group meetings were great examples of networking opportunities.

Unmet needs: raising awareness of gender-specific challenges and biases

Many respondents spoke about the need for awareness of intersectional sexism and racism. A few noted that AMIA members needed to be mindful of bias particularly when selecting leaders, and several other members strongly encouraged speaking up against systemic issues of discrimination. A popular suggestion was to train leaders to speak on and address gender gap issues.

Unmet needs: encouraging gender-proportional representation

To support gender-proportional representation when nominating women in AMIA leadership positions, one respondent suggested that “selection committees for elections could make the decision to have proportional numbers of male and female candidates on the election slate (R5).” A few others agreed that it was necessary to “identify the ideal proportion (of women in AMIA leadership) and then [make] plans to reach this goal (R76).”

Unmet needs: improving “family-friendliness” of AMIA conferences

Another gender-related obstacle to career growth for women in AMIA was lack of family support during work. Childcare on site was highly praised by many respondents, who requested more flexibility in addition to the family support. One respondent also suggested that in addition to caring for children on site, AMIA should “allow those with kids at the conference to choose times for presenting that works with their childcare (R24).”

Due to COVID-19, many women struggled with at-home childcare demands as well, stating that they did not have energy or time for anything outside of immediate work and family needs. Thus, several respondents requested more flexibility and understanding from their workplaces to accommodate for family stressors. Examples of respondent comments related to unmet needs and obstacles are provided in Table 4.