Group coaching to foster women's leadership in academic surgery.

INTRODUCTION Women remain underrepresented in leadership within academic surgery, which may contribute to burnout among women surgeons. We hypothesize that a structured coaching-for-leadership program will lead to enhanced professional fulfillment, reduced impostor phenomenon (IP), and decreased feelings of isolation and burnout.

Methods

This pilot project involved a nine-month initiative with sessions on professional identity formation, communication styles, and time management. Program impact was quantified using pre- and post-intervention surveys that included the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) and the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS).

Results

The initial cohort comprised 18 women faculty; 14 participants completed the initial PFI survey and of those 14, 8 participants completed both PFI surveys. After completing the program, participants reported a modest improvement in professional fulfillment (mean 3.79 points ± 0.7 vs 4.10 ± 0.3), decreased interpersonal disengagement (2.29 ± 0.9 vs 1.60 ± 0.4) and an improvement in work exhaustion (2.75 ± 0.6 vs 1.94 ± 0.6). Of 18 participants, 8 completed the pre-program CIPS survey and 5 the post-program survey. Based on this small group, IP decreased, with mean CIPS scores improving from 57.6 ± 13.8 to 32.0 ± 17.5.

Conclusion

Based on preliminary results, a group coaching-for-leadership program may address the professional development and well-being needs of women surgeons.