Women in Radiology at IDKD

Empowering women leaders and mentors

Celebrating leadership, mentorship, and progress for women in radiology through the IDKD platform.

A New Chapter at IDKD

Prof. Hedvig Hricak and Prof. Rahel A. Kubik-Huch introduced the Women in Radiology initiative during the 50th IDKD in Davos. This milestone marks a continued effort to support, mentor, and uplift women across all stages of their radiology careers.

Prof. Rahel A. Kubik-Huch

Prof. Hedvig Hricak

Mission Statement

“Around the world, women continue to be under-represented in leadership positions in radiology. The mission of “IDKD – Women in Radiology” is to bring these women together to learn about each other’s experiences, develop support networks and mentoring relationships, and create initiatives to reduce the barriers they and other women in radiology face in advancing their careers and establishing leadership positions while balancing professional and personal goals.”

GOALS OF THE INITIATIVE

Identify “rising stars” in radiology with the potential to become future teachers, and bring them to the awareness of the IDKD directors and course advisors course to give a junior highlight lecture and then attend the workshops and learn from the more advanced teachers)
Support/mentor young (female) teachers during their first IDKD attendance and beyond
Support the IDKD organizers in achieving a more balanced gender ratio among faculty members in “scouting” excellent female teacherst

Create a network of female radiologists – worldwide and independent of their radiologic subspecialty
Provide role models for young radiologists, especially in academic radiology
Become ambassadors for the field of radiology, as the field is now facing not only unprecedented opportunities but also challenges and threats

FEATURED EVENT

Discussion Highlight: “Do Women Lack Ambition?”

A powerful session co-led by Prof. Hricak and Prof. Kubik explored gender perceptions, societal expectations, and the challenges women face in leadership roles.

DO WOMEN LACK AMBITION?

For the first time, both faculty and meeting participants were invited. The session was filled to capacity, with a highly responsive audience that included many women and also quite a few men. After a short presentation by Dr. Hricak reviewing literature on the session topic,2 there was a lively and fruitful discussion.

A general consensus emerged that, as suggested nearly 20 years ago in an article from Harvard Business Review, girls and women do not innately lack ambition, but they do tend to become less and less comfortable expressing it over time. Various reasons for this persistent problem were proposed and debated. Prof. Hricak’s presentation highlighted the results of a Pew survey, which indicated that the two traits society prized most in women were “physical attractiveness” followed by “empathy/nurturing/kindness,” while the traits most prized in men were “honesty/morality” followed by “professional/financial success.”

This particular piece of information sparked an especially animated and illuminating conversation about how society looks at women in leadership positions of all kinds. While it was clear that more work must be done to help women sustain their ambitions, it was refreshing to have a chance to talk about and raise awareness of this complex, vitally important issue.

REFERENCES:

Women in radiology: gender diversity is not a metric-it is a tool for excellence. Kubik-Huch RA, Vilgrain V, Krestin GP, Reiser MF, Attenberger UI, Muellner AU, Hess CP, Hricak H. Eur Radiol 2020; 30(3) 1644-52. Doi 10.1007/s00330-019-06492-1. Epub 2019 Dec 4.PMID: 31802213
Fels, A. Do women lack ambition? Harvard Business Review. 2004; 82(4):50-56, 58-60, 139.
Parker K, Menasce Horowitz J, Stepler R. On Gender Differences, No Consensus on Nature vs. Nurture. Americans see different expectations for men and women. Pew Research Center. December 5, 2017. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/12/05/on-gender-differences-no-consensus-on-nature-vs-nurture/.

In August 2021, Prof. H. Hricak was honored with the endowed Chair in Radiology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. What an accomplishment and example for women physicians!
Cooky Menias compiled Words of Wisdom for Women in Radiology.
Women in Focus: advice from the front lines on how to enable well-being and build resilience (from ECR 2019).
Women in radiology: why is the pipeline still leaking and how can we plug it? – read the article by Katharina S Weigel, Rahel A Kubik-Huch and Catherine Gebhard.
Katharina Weigel wrote an essay following her interview with Prof. Hricak on the topic of “Be a Winner – Not a Whiner”. Read the essay here.