Why Gender Doesn't Belong in Leadership Conversations with From Skirts to Scrubs and Dr. Stephanie Faubion

In this episode we combine with another podcast to interview. Dr. Stephanie Faubion M.D. She has practiced in the Women's Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic for over 10 years. She has a broad interest in women's health and her research encompasses sex- and gender-based differences in disease, menopause, hormone therapy, healthy aging, and sexual health and dysfunction in women.

In her roles as the Penny and Bill George Director for Mayo Clinic's Center for Women's Health and medical director for The North American Menopause Society, Dr. Faubion is acutely aware of the need to improve the evidence base for medical practice. Her role in the research community is guided by the need to develop research strategies that will improve the clinical practice as many research questions come directly from the clinical dilemmas faced every day in medical practice.

Dr. Faubion's research group has developed a clinical database: the Data Registry on Experiences of Aging, Menopause and Sexuality (DREAMS). This database, developed in 2005, already has extensive longitudinal data with over 7,000 patients and has facilitated multiple research projects. In this context, Dr. Faubion has encouraged and directed strong research collaborations with established clinical and basic science researchers within the institution.

We are also joined today by Aleesha Kotian and Charlotte Thill of From Skirts to Scrubs, a podcast that intersects gender studies, history and medicine. For more information we encourage our listeners to visit their website or check out their social media. In this episode we talk about how to be an authentic leader and why we need to move to a place where gender isn’t a qualifier for leaders in medicine.

Questions we asked include: 

• What is her leadership background? 
• How has being a woman shaped your leadership abilities? 
• How can we address equality from a top down and bottom up perspective? 
• Will this problem fix itself over time or do we need to do more? 
• How can there be more support for women entering back into the workforce after taking time off for family? 
• How can we support and normalize men taking time off for raising children, family, etc? 

Our favorite quotes: 

• “You are a woman leader, but you lead regardless of your gender. For you being a woman is both critical and unimportant.” 
• “Being a woman is not important when I’m leading a team… it doesn’t factor into my decisions.”
• “If you’re not authentic to yourself, you’re not going to be a good leader.” 
• “The definition of a leader means people are following you” 
• “Do we have the right person for the job, or are we just picking the next white male candidate?” 
• “We have to rethink how we are cultivating leaders and engaging people” 
• “If you’re climbing a ladder, you need to be bringing at least two or three people up with you.” 
• “Lose your self limiting beliefs” 

Book suggestion: 

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

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