Women’s Initiative Network at Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center Is Enriching, Supporting and Promoting the Work of Women in Cancer

The quest for gender equity at Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center is underway for dozens of female employees—thanks to a program focused on providing equal opportunity and advancement for women. The Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), launched as a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion effort in 2021 by Edward Chu, MD, MMS, Director, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center and Vice President, Cancer Medicine, is designed to enrich, support and promote the work of women at every level of the cancer field. The growing list of more than 70 members includes clinicians, physician-scientists and basic scientists.

WIN is led by Chair Sofia de Oliveira, PhD, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Assistant Professor, Developmental and Molecular Biology and Medicine (Hepatology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Vice Chair Maja H. Oktay, MD, PhD, MS, Co-Leader, Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program, Co-Chair, Clinical Research, Cancer Dormancy & Tumor Microenvironment Institute (CDTMI), Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Leader, Breast Team, Integrated Imaging Program for Cancer Research (IIP-CR), and Professor, Pathology and Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

WIN seeks to identify challenges to career progress that females face as well as to recruit and retain qualified female employees, help ensure equal pay and grant distribution, and increase the number of women in leadership roles.

“There are multiple levels we are trying to address,” said Dr. Oktay. “One is that as you climb up the ladder of leadership, women somehow disappear. At our institution, most leadership positions are held by men, and that is concerning to us.” And while Dr. Oktay believes that it is too early to see substantive change, the group is already putting important elements in place. “We are starting something, and it can spread. It’s just the beginning, so hopefully, several years from now, the culture will be different. That’s the goal.”

Gathering Data-Driven Insights

Key to the success of WIN, according to its leaders, is to probe the history of Comprehensive Cancer Center practices and listen carefully to the women working there now. To that end, WIN is collecting data from the past decade to better demonstrate that gender disparity—including differences in pay rates and career advancement—have long been a reality.

A survey to assess the cultural climate will be sent to all Comprehensive Cancer Center faculty, an effort that WIN leaders hope will frame the cultural issues that females and other underrepresented groups have been facing and will start a community conversation that results in greater gender equity. “We are scientists,” said Dr. de Oliveira, “and scientists are led by data. It can be hard to explain to our male peers the challenges we have been experiencing, so we need to put this in an impersonal way: We are not fighting you; we are fighting a culture that is limiting us and not providing us the same opportunities.”

Bringing Balance to the Male-Female Ratio

WIN is focused on bringing more female thought leadership to the Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Cancer research is very male dominated,” Dr. de Oliveira said. “One way to reverse the trend is to promote research by females, allowing them to be seen as leaders in our field. We are pushing hard to bring a list of more diverse speakers to the Comprehensive Cancer Center. For example, I don’t think we have had even one female ‘distinguished speaker.’ WIN together with Comprehensive Cancer Center leadership are trying to change that.”

Mentoring the Next Generation of Medical Professionals

One of the early successes of WIN is structured mentorship. Since the program began, 10 women with established medical careers have been paired with others who are new to the workforce. Each mentor-mentee relationship is customized based on individual goals, needs, schedules and areas of expertise. The result is a valuable transfer of knowledge and professional support.

WIN member and mentee Lindsay M. LaFave, PhD, Assistant Professor, Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, explained: “We meet once a month for coffee, where I can seek advice on topics including grant strategy and planning, lab management and science.” She added, “These informal discussions provide a venue for me to also discuss challenges encountered as a junior faculty member and opportunities to problem-solve frustrations that arise.”

Addressing the Importance of Work-Life Balance

Achieving a desirable work-life balance can be a challenge for any medical professional, but Dr. de Oliveira believes that it is especially difficult for women, who are typically more affected by parental leaves of absence and often serve as primary caretakers of children and other family members. Even in the workplace, she added, women are known to offer informal collaboration and support to their colleagues, which takes focus away from their work.

“Women are nurturing,” she said. “We spend time with students, we spend time on committees, none of which is properly recorded. This impacts our productivity, our papers and our grants.”

Working Toward an Equitable Future

Dr. de Oliveira, Dr. Oktay and other WIN stakeholders are realistic about the scope of their task. Membership in WIN is steadily growing, and the group meets monthly to work on various initiatives and monitor progress. Expectations are high that the program will make a meaningful difference—at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and in the medical field overall. “We hope that Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center can serve as an example for the future,” said Dr. de Oliveira, “as we promote real changes at our institution and look to a growing number of participants to become active.”

WIN is seeking to increase the participation of clinicians—here is how you can join this group of amazing leaders.