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Department of Internal Medicine

Gender Equity

May 23, 2022

Vision Statement on Gender Equity — University of Utah Department of Internal Medicine

Diversity—a key driver of excellence—fosters creativity, innovation, and productivity. We, the members of the Department of Internal Medicine (DOIM) Gender Equity Workgroup, envision a DOIM that achieves the highest level of academic excellence, one that recognizes the value of diversity and responds by correcting inequities and supporting the advancement of women, in pursuit of excellence.

In line with the recent call to action from the Association of American Medical Colleges, this vision can be achieved by addressing gender inequities in four areas: leadership and compensation, workforce, research, and recognition. We envision a DOIM where progress within these categories is measured and transparently reported on an annual basis.

  1. Leadership and Compensation
    1. Achieve compensation equity, including base salary plus incentives, between men and women at all ranks.
    2. Commit to 50% representation of women in Division Chief and Vice Chair positions within 10 years.
    3. Ensure equal consideration for endowed chairs, with the goal of equitable representation in the next 10 years.
    4. Commit to equal gender faculty representation on key DOIM committees/task forces, particularly those select committees in which a Vice Chair or the Department Chair are members.
  2. Workforce and Parental Support
    1. Achieve gender equity in the workforce by:
      • Committing to achieving parity in hiring of men and women for new faculty positions across all divisions.
      • Achieving equity in base salary, startup funds/incentives and hiring rank between men and women at the time of hire.
    2. Maintain new parent productivity and retention in the workforce by:
      • Providing faculty with transparent and consistent parental leave policies across all Divisions of DOIM.
      • Committing to equal parental leave for men and women faculty, regardless of dual parent University employment, while eliminating specification of child caregiving role
      • Supporting newborn and infant childcare by reducing expected clinical productivity without penalty (e.g. expected RVUs and outpatient patient slots) for a defined period of time.
  3. Research
    1. Ensure the retention of women scientists in the workforce by:
      • Ensuring gender equity in the distribution of pilot funds, protected research time, and other research-oriented awards and resources.
      • Recognizing the special challenges women researchers face and offering targeted support for them through special funding and career development resources and opportunities.
  4. Recognition
    1. Create productivity measures that recognize contributions to the educational and service missions that disproportionally fall on women, such as teaching, mentoring, non-select committee membership, and other administrative service. 

 
Signed,
The Gender Equity Workgroup Members

Susan Zickmund (Chair)
Jeanette Brown
Hanadi Farrukh
Ann Flynn
Isaac Hall
Kim Hanson
Priyanka Kanth
Dori Knight
Laurie Leclair
Catherine Lee
Lisa Lesniewski
Morgan Millar
Sonja Raaum
Nirupama Ramkumar
Michael Rubin
Randall Rupper
Rashmee Shah
Adam Spivak
Julie Thomas
Theresa Werner