ASCP 2019: Exploring Women Who Excel in Healthcare Careers

The medical laboratory workforce is increasingly diverse, and managers need to develop an appropriate style of leading their staff. In current laboratories, women make up more than 60% of the laboratory workforce on average. By 2055, the U.S. will no longer have a single racial or ethnic majority, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. This shift will have major impacts on the workforce and how organizations address diversity in the workplace.¹

As women ascend to the top leadership ranks in pathology and laboratory medicine in record numbers, they face unique challenges: how to build careers, alternative family care structures, and maintaining resilience in the historical context of male-dominated medical systems.

These complex issues will be tackled at the ASCP 2019 Annual Meeting, September 11-13, in Phoenix. On September 13, a session titled, “A Seminar for Women in Pathology and Laboratory Professions: Navigating the Waters of Career Development and Dependent Care,” will be presented by Krisztina Hanley, MD, FASCP, Bojana Djordjevic, MD, FASCP, Lynnette Chakkaphak, MS, MT(ASCP), and Ann Walsh-Feeks, MS, PA(ASCP)^CM.

“We wanted to create a workshop where these issues would be explored between participants and the faculty in a safe and judgment-free environment,” Dr. Djordjevic says.

The faculty will share experiences from their own careers and family journeys, including practical solutions and effective coping strategies. The session will focus on three main areas:

• Early career: strategies and solutions for starting a career and a family simultaneously.
• Work-life balance: advocating for a culture of wellness in the workplace. Dealing with one’s own illness and/or illness as a caregiver.
• Getting established/planning ahead: mid-career goals and acquiring leadership roles. Using managerial skills to successfully navigate at work and at home.  

The goals of this session are to help create support systems at work and home; develop managerial strategies to prevent over-commitment and burn out; manage situations when being treated “differently” because of caregiver commitments; practice strategic career planning toward promotion; pursue leadership positions and personal growth; identify career and life role models; and develop and maintain career-nurturing professional relationships.

Another session on September 11, titled, “Culturally-appropriate Leadership Training: Pathways to Improve Patient Care and Female Empowerment,” will address culturally-appropriate leadership training and how to adapt behaviors to specific cultural needs. This session will focus on how global female empowerment improves patient care.

Co-sponsored by ASCP's Center for Global Health, the symposium will be moderated by ASCP President Melissa P. Upton, MD, FASCP, and include Dr. Edda Vuhahula, Filipinas Papa, MS, Dr. Malak Abedalthagafi, and Lotte Mulder, MEd. The session includes female participants of the ASCP Leadership Institute representing Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. Former Leadership Institute participants will discuss their experiences in leadership as well as their personal trials and tribulations of being successful in their careers.

Following the presentations, Dr. Upton will moderate a panel discussion focusing on leadership and improving patient care, as well as female empowerment for medical personnel and patients including responding to audience questions via Twitter.

As female leadership moves to the forefront of laboratories globally, the traditional roles of women must be reexamined, reevaluated, redefined, and moved to positions of respect and prowess. Business management studies indicate that many female leaders are often naturally better at harmonizing large groups, unifying teams for a focused endeavor, and getting the best results from a diverse team. The laboratory is no exception and providing programming that both teaches and highlights these areas will provide an excellent venue for discussion in the ASCP public forum.

References

Peoplescout. The Shifting Definition of Diversity in the Workplace, Oct. 18, 2017. https://www.peoplescout.com/insights/managing-diversity-in-workplace/. Accessed July 1, 2019.