Office of Gender Equity in Science and Medicine

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai leadership believes in maintaining a supportive, collegial environment free from harassment for faculty, students, and trainees, regardless of gender, gender expression, or gender identity.

We strive to create a culture where everyone is valued and has the opportunity to succeed. To do so, we aim to assess and address the climate and structures at our institution. More specifically, we look to build community while working to address and strengthen policies and programs related to bias and mistreatment, compensation equity, recruitment, retention and promotion, leadership development and family support.

The Gender Equity team works hard to ensure that Mount Sinai plays a role in developing initiatives and promoting equity for professionals in science and medicine nationally and internationally regardless of gender.

For updates in our work across these priority areas, please subscribe to our newsletter.

Priority Areas | An Overview

Recruitment, Retention, and Promotion

Launched Equity Action Team to further Search Committee Guideline enhancements and align efforts with the Road Map for Action to Address Racism
Collaborated across the institution to define the next steps for an equity dashboard that would include recruitment and promotion metrics
Awarded four scholars the second annual Distinguished Scholar Award, which supports junior faculty in independent research careers as they integrate caretaking into their careers
Received funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's Fund to Retain Clinician Scientists to expand the 2022 Distinguished Scholar Program

Gender Bias and Mistreatment

Finalized and began to distribute a toolkit to raise awareness about microaggressions and how to be an upstander
Collaborated with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion to provide microaggressions training (beginning and intermediate levels) to departments across the institution
Hosted an Asian American Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) panel discussion to address anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) discrimination and bias
Joined the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Action Collaborative to share and learn best practices in addressing bias in academic science and medicine

Mentorship, Leadership, and Sponsorship

Co-hosted small group dialogues on mentorship with the Office for Faculty Development and the Office for Diversity and Inclusion on Thriving in Academic Medicine
Hosted virtual networking seminars including opportunities to learn from women alumni
Created opportunity for dialogue on controversial topics through a journal club
Highlighted accomplished senior women through Just Desserts, a community space for staff, trainees, and faculty to connect, gain mentorship, and ask questions

Family-Friendly Programs

Brought together an Equity Action Team to identify ways to address childcare needs
Hosted special events honoring parents and caregivers across the system

Compensation Equity

Conducted workshops and shared resources on pay negotiation
Met regularly with faculty to address concerns and identify approaches for having conversations with their chairs
Held conversations with chairs
Reviewed best practices nationally
Laid the groundwork for a pay equity toolkit featuring resources and promising practices

Special Initiatives

Established the Amplifying Equity Speaker Series
Published quarterly newsletters
Honored Women's History Month
Launched the Building Gender Equity Together Initiative
Developed Enhancing Mutual Respect and Interpersonal Communication Conversations

The Office for Women’s Careers

The Office for Women’s Careers (OWC) is a branch of the Office of Gender Equity in Science and Medicine. Our purpose is to foster a gender equitable environment to assure that women faculty succeed in research and clinical careers at Mount Sinai.

Collaborators

To achieve our goals, we collaborate with leaders at the Icahn School of Medicine and the Mount Sinai Health System to develop school-wide initiatives and programs. These partners include: