The Office for Women's Careers (OWC) is a branch of the Office of Gender Equity in Science and Medicine. It serves as an advocacy and mentoring resource for women faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Built on the foundation of the Women Faculty Group established in 1986, we serve more than 1,500 women faculty and trainees by providing a forum for support, education, networking, and discussion. OWC is a founding member of Women in Science and Medicine (WiSM) along with Women in Science, representing our graduate students and postdocs, and American Medical Women’s Association, which is led by medical students. WiSM actively advocates for women at all career stages in academic biomedicine.
We focus on approaches to retain and advance women entering academic biomedicine from the great pool of talent that constitutes at least 50 percent of physician and scientist graduates. Our initiatives include a monthly meeting called Just Desserts for women faculty and trainees to celebrate and learn from a successful woman scientist and/or physician; fostering participation of women faculty in leadership training programs offered nationwide, including programs by the Association of American Medical College (AAMC) Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM); semi-annual keynotes presentations and networking opportunities; and individual match-making for mentees and mentors. Our listserve, which you can be added to by contacting OWC@mssm.edu, covers a broad spectrum of career issues with an emphasis on those that affect women and junior faculty.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is committed to aggressively pursuing and developing the innovative capacity of women and men, and we are taking active steps to increase representation of women at all stages of their academic career. We aim to decrease barriers to career advancement faced by women by providing a supportive environment conducive to job satisfaction and career advancement. This includes providing flexible and family-friendly policies, extended timeframe for promotion or tenure to accommodate personal obligations relating to significant events such as childbirth, adoption or care of an elderly parent, a part-time track, a parents group, and daycare. Our policies and programs create a work environment where all members of our community can succeed, advance and thrive.
We welcome you and your ideas.
Sandra K. Masur, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology
Professor of Pharmacological Sciences
Director of the Office for Women’s Careers