Complacency and Intentionality

In last month’s editorial I asked our community to reflect on what 50% of respondents answering “yes” to the question, “Do you think that women have made large enough strides in otolaryngology leadership and gender equity?” says about our community and our future. I also took the opportunity to reflect and speak with senior women in healthcare about current barriers to gender equity in healthcare. Two words became mainstays of these conversations: complacency and intentionality.

Complacency is self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by lack of awareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. Intentionality is something that is made, given, or done with full awareness of what one is doing.

Complacency is dangerous, as it assumes that the work has already been done and that we don’t need to do anything else to secure and maintain gender equity. There are so many men and women who have worked hard for women to be commonplace in surgical training programs. This wasn’t the case even 20 years ago.

We won’t achieve equity without intentionally looking for and addressing deficiencies. Organizations that make intentional efforts toward gender equity see increased retention, revenue, productivity, and innovation. According to the 2020 Harvard Business Review article, “Equity Is Not a Zero Sum,” research demonstrated that for every 10% increase in gender equity, businesses see a 1% to 2% increase in revenue. Being intentional about gender equity is not only the right ethical decision; it’s also the right business decision.

HeForShe is the United Nations Global solidarity movement for gender equality. The goal is for men and people of all genders to stand in solidarity with women to create a bold, visible, and united force for gender equality. The men of HeForShe aren’t on the sidelines. Men play an important role in this journey—in fact, research has demonstrated that when men are intentionally involved in gender equity efforts, 96% of organizations see results, compared to only 30% when they are not. Many institutional efforts are overly focused on women, meaning “the problem” is treated only with networking and leadership courses and overlooks systemic causes of workplace inequity, disengaging men from the process.

Here are a few things individuals and institutions can consider doing intentionally:

1. Develop and utilize metrics to access resource allocation, promotion, leadership, and pay.
2. Advocate for gender equity policies.
3. Be a good bystander and speak up when you see gender inequities or hear sexist language.
4. Listen to women’s perspectives and value their experiences.
5. Be a good sponsor.

I will forever be grateful to those whose efforts opened our field to women. Great strides have been made, but work still needs to be done to achieve equity in pay, promotion, leadership, and resource allocation to ensure that we continue to attract and retain top talent.

—Robin