Newsletter 2023
Did your parent influence your career path? A new initiative
Prof. Idit Matot
Chair of the ESAIC Scientific Committee
Prof. Basak Ceyda
Have you ever wondered whether parents do/do not influence a physician’s decision to become a leader in her/his field?
The entire journey began when I had dinner with a group of Turkish female anesthesiologists, all in leadership positions (academic/administrative), and we discussed our parents’ influence on our career management. Interestingly, the mother was indicated as the one that had a major impact on career progress among all participants, including in my own case.
It is undeniably intriguing to delve into what motivates individuals, particularly women, not only to excel and become leaders in their respective fields.
Upon my return, in collaboration with Prof. Basak Ceyda, I explored this topic in-depth. Female leadership influences adolescent girls’ career aspirations and educational attainment (1). Mentorship programmes designed for women physicians, regardless of the model, are met with high satisfaction and help promote and retain women in academic medicine (2). A recent study (3) that examined the effect of parental entrepreneurial role model in nascent entrepreneur’s activity by gender perspective found that: a. the presence of parental entrepreneurial role model impacts the decision to become a nascent entrepreneur; b. the effect of this impact is moderated by gender, i.e. this effect is significant in the case of father entrepreneurial role model (negative effect). There is no data regarding parental influence on the offspring of male and female anesthesiologists/intensivists’ decision to become a leader in the field, more so whether it is the father or mother who had the greater impact.
So, now, 23 anesthesiologists/intensivists, each representing a different country within Europe, have formed a group to look into this matter. Male and female anesthesiologists/intensivists who hold (or have held) a leadership position (academic position/ administrative one) will be included. They would be asked to answer a very short survey (17 questions to be filled in 5-6 minutes). The results will add additional aspects on what actually drives women and men anesthesiologists into leading positions. Stay tuned!
References
- Lori Beaman et al. Science 2012; 335(6068): 582–586.
- Amy H. Farkas et al. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2019; 34: 1322–1329
- Jorge Moreno-G_omeza et al. European Research on Management and Business Economics 2022; 28: 100156
