Guest Column December 2024: Creating a Culture of Inclusion
This month’s column was guest written by the Culture & Inclusion portfolio:
The principles of mentorship, wellness, and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are deeply interconnected, and our Culture & Inclusion team is devoted to integrating these principles into every facet of our department.
This past summer, our department collaborated with MedIT to capture a conversation between Dr. Umberin Najeeb, Vice-Chair of Culture & Inclusion, and Dr. Gillian Hawker, former Chair of the Department of Medicine. Their dialogue emphasized the significant progress made in fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for all of our faculty, trainees and staff, highlighting the department’s firm commitment to these values. Click here to watch the video.
In the video, the two discuss the inception of the Culture & Inclusion (C&I) portfolio and its ongoing work, while reflecting on how the culture within the department has evolved over the past decade.
Dr. Hawker shares that the C&I portfolio was a key motivation for her decision to apply for the role of Chair. Dr. Hawker recalls the challenges she faced early in her career, including unfair, non-transparent processes and a lack of support as a young mother in postgraduate training. She felt that the department was missing opportunities to support and advance talented individuals and trainees.
Their conversation then shifts to the Women in Academic Medicine event, which began in 2017 to create a safe space for female faculty and trainees to discuss their experiences, as well as promote allyship and advocacy. “It was an incredibly exhilarating and cathartic experience,” Dr. Hawker notes. “It was about addressing hierarchies, fairness and transparency, and not recognizing people for what they were bringing to the table.”
Dr. Hawker emphasizes that a critical turning point in EDI was the department’s decision to implement formal recruitment and leadership search processes across all hospitals. “You couldn’t move forward with EDI until you established those structures,” she explains, referring to the institutional framework that now supports these efforts.
The discussion also touches on the three key pillars of the C&I portfolio: EDI, mentorship, and wellness. Dr. Najeeb highlights how faculty surveys have provided valuable feedback on these areas, revealing the need for more formal mentorship for mid-career and late career faculty. As a result, the department has introduced new awards and workshops tailored to these stages of faculty development.
The video concludes with Drs. Najeeb and Hawker discussing the various accomplishments of the C&I portfolio and Dr. Hawker’s reflections as she completes her 10-year term as Chair.
