Unpacking the Microdynamics of Multiplex Peer Developmental Relationships: A Mutuality Perspective

Peer developmental relationships—informal arrangements between pairs of individuals who take an active interest in and concerted action to advance one another's careers—offer a valuable alternative to formal mentorships. Despite recognition that peer developmental relationships have the potential to jointly provide career and psychosocial support (i.e., multiplexity) and that relationships embodying multiple support dimensions are indispensable, a paucity of work investigates what factors contribute to their dynamics and persistence over time. To address this issue, we integrate the microfoundations of network dynamics and mutuality perspectives to identify why and when social processes—specifically, reciprocity, trust, and trust asymmetry—operate to form, strengthen, or maintain multiplex peer developmental relationships. To test our hypotheses, we collected three waves of data over one-and-a-half years from a cohort of individuals participating in a leadership development program. Using variations of the Quadradic Assignment Procedure (QAP) to investigate dyad-level dynamics, our results generally suggest that (over and above demographics and network characteristics) the provision of psychosocial support relatively early in the peer-to-peer relationship is likely to evolve into a more complex, high-quality relationship comprised of both psychosocial support and career support (i.e., a multiplex peer developmental relationship). Perhaps more importantly, the social processes capturing mutuality further increased the likelihood that multiplex developmental relationships would develop and persist over time. Our results demonstrate that mutuality is both generative and resolute in nurturing multiplex developmental relationships.

Achieving academic promotion: The role of work environment, role conflict, and life balance

Fifty-two faculty at two Canadian universities were interviewed about the impact of work environment, role conflict, and worklife balance on career-related experiences and decisions to apply for promotion to full professor. Faculty described conflicts between their academic responsibilities of teaching, research, and service (including limited time for research despite long work weeks) as well as work-life imbalance. These issues were often gendered; women took slightly longer to achieve the rank of associate professor, accepted tasks of lower reward value, held decreased expectations for promotion, and experienced workplace conflict and bullying more than their male counterparts. Even so, faculty identified colleagues as a valuable career support. Our data lead us to theorize that the decision to apply for academic promotion is informed by a cost-benefit analysis, early career experiences, conformity with academic norms that over-emphasize research productivity, as well as access to career-advancing resources (especially time for research). We recommend that the gendered nature of the academic reward system be re-imagined to promote equality, and provide suggestions as to how to do so.

Dual Career Support Activities of High-Performance Students-Athletes in the Project “More than Gold”

One of the European Union’s (EU) priorities in sports is the holistic development of athletes through combining high-performance sports with higher education. Within the ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership “More than Gold” (MTG, 603346-EPP-1-2018-1-LV-SPO-SCP), the aim of the empirical research was to clarify and analyse the opinions of high-performance athletes of five Member States on the opportunities for Dual Career (DC) implementation as well as support provision for high-performance athletes within their DC implementation. Survey as the research method was chosen applying questionnaire, interview and focus-group discussion as data collection methods. The research sample included in this work comprised 284 athletes. The data obtained revealed the challenges related to overlapping schedules, long distance from the university to the training venue, and the lack of understanding and flexibility from the academic staff, which was especially challenging in the first academic year. The respondents appreciated the support of DC tutors. Finally, the opinion of experts allowed to identify 9 aspects to be implemented within the DC perspective (e. g., access to educational facilities, tutorship, psychological support). Findings urge to implement DC programmes at higher education institutions (HEIs) comprising DC guidance, flexible study and training schedules, customized curricula, distance learning, proximity of training facilities and sports services, psychological and career support services tailored for elite-athletes. Therefore, the More Than Gold Guidelines for HEIs are crucial for the development of the European DC culture.

Gender-based Barriers in the Advancement of Women Leaders in Emergency Medicine: A Multi-institutional Qualitative Study

Introduction: Leadership positions occupied by women within academic emergency medicine have remained stagnant despite increasing numbers of women with faculty appointments. We distributed a multi-institutional survey to women faculty and residents to evaluate categorical characteristics contributing to success and differences between the two groups. Methods: An institutional review board-approved electronic survey was distributed to women faculty and residents at eight institutions and were completed anonymously. We created survey questions to assess multiple categories: determination; resiliency; career support and obstacles; career aspiration; and gender discrimination. Most questions used a Likert five-point scale. Responses for each question and category were averaged and deemed significant if the average was greater than or equal to 4 in the affirmative, or less than or equal to 2 in the negative. We calculated proportions for binary questions. Results: The overall response rate was 55.23% (95/172). The faculty response rate was 54.1% (59/109) and residents’ response rate was 57.1% (36/63). Significant levels of resiliency were reported, with a mean score of 4.02. Childbearing and rearing were not significant barriers overall but were more commonly reported as barriers for faculty over residents (P <0.001). Obstacles reported included a lack of confidence during work-related negotiations and insufficient research experience. Notably, 68.4% (65/95) of respondents experienced gender discrimination and 9.5% (9/95) reported at least one encounter of sexual assault by a colleague or supervisor during their career. Conclusion: Targeted interventions to promote female leadership in academic emergency medicine include coaching on negotiation skills, improved resources and mentorship to support research, and enforcement of safe work environments. Female emergency physician resiliency is high and not a barrier to career advancement.

1215 Training of Surgical Junior Doctors Impacted by COVID-19 in a Tertiary Referral and Teaching Hospital

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant disruption to the working lives, training, and career development for doctors in training. We sought to identify the impact this has had on colleagues and if these issues were in existence before the pandemic. Method This was a cross sectional study, with primary data collection using a web-based survey carried out. Trainees in all surgical specialities were invited to participate. The questionnaire was divided into 4 sections which included questions on individual perception of training experiences and support from Clinical/ Educational Supervisors (CS/ES) preceding and since the onset of the pandemic (Nov 2019-Feb 2020 vs March 2020- June 2020). Results In total, 36 trainees responded. Those reporting adequate support from relevant supervisors fell across the following domains: education and training (-39%), career support (-52%), overall support (-20%). Adequate support from hospital management fell from 42% pre-pandemic to 22% after. Trainees felt less valued, ranked morale lower and felt less integrated into a team since the onset of the pandemic. 39% said their consultants had no understanding of the issues they faced at work. Conclusions This study highlights relevant existing issues including supervision, training, workload, and support that were amplified following the onset of this pandemic. It does also highlight the discrepancy in the understanding of trainees’ role and their workload by supervisors and hospital management. Further studies are required to better understand and address these issues. The importance of representation in organisational decision-making in-service design can help improve workforce and training experience.

No room at the top? A system dynamics view of the recursive consequences of women's underrepresentation in international assignments

PurposeThe expatriation literature has developed an insightful body of research on the reasons why women are not assigned abroad as frequently as men. However, the authors know very little about the systemic and recursive consequences of women's underrepresentation in international assignments (IAs), which are examined in this conceptual paper.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon expatriation research and a system dynamics perspective, the authors propose a conceptual model to explain both women's underrepresentation in IAs and its recursive consequences.FindingsThe authors highlight how women's underrepresentation in IAs results from a complex system of recursive effects that jeopardizes women's professional development and undermines both their own career progression to top management and firms' competitive advantage and international growth. The authors argue that organizations make decisions that contravene their own interest in a competitive global context. First is that they are limiting their talent pool by not considering female candidates. Second is that they are missing the opportunity to use IAs to advance women's careers.Research limitations/implicationsThe model provides a solid grounding for future research on selecting the most effective organizational actions and designing supportive measures to disrupt the persistent dynamics contributing to women's underrepresentation in IAs. Future research could also expand our study by incorporating individual differences and the proactive role that women may take.Practical implicationsThe model points to specific managerial interventions (e.g. increased access to job training and specific training ahead of the assignment, dual-career support, women's mentoring and affirmative action) which have the potential to reduce women's underrepresentation in IAs and in top management.Originality/valueThe system dynamics approach enables a broader understanding of why women are underrepresented in IAs, how this underrepresentation further exacerbates gender segregation in international business, and how these recursive outcomes can be averted to the advantage of firms' sustainable growth.

The Myth of Equal Opportunity in Germany? Wage Inequality and the Role of (Non-)academic Family Background for Differences in Capital Endowments and Returns on the Labour Market

While providing equal opportunities to all members of society independent of an individual’s socio-economic background is a major objective of German policy makers, educational opportunities of children with a non-academic family background are still unequally obstructed. When analysing the labour market implications of this disadvantage, social capital as an additional source of inequality often lacks attention. Drawing on the instrumental value of rather loose contacts (i.e. weak ties) on the labour market as revealed by Granovetter (Getting a job. A study of contacts and careers, The University of Chicago Press, Cambridge, 1974), this paper goes beyond the human capital approach and includes a measure of instrumental social capital in the form of weak-tie career support in the earnings function. Applying an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition and quantile regressions, we find a significant average wage gap between those with and without an academic family background. A large part can be explained by deficits that those from less educated families incur with respect to human and instrumental social capital: Lower educational attainment accounts for more than half of the wage gap between the two groups while fewer career support explains around five percent of the differential. Additionally, a non-academic family background is associated with a significant deficit in returns to their instrumental social capital along the wage distribution. The findings therefore suggest that inequalities of opportunity on the German labour market occur beyond the education system, as not only the quantity but also the quality of career supporting networks of those from a non-academic family are inferior.