"I have access to role models and mentors who offer support, encouragement, and idea development and focus," she said.
And yet, despite the progress, obstacles for LGBTs in science still exist in various and sometimes subtle forms, including access to role models, mentorship, and ultimately, the science itself.
My kids benefit from me being tapped in to autistic culture, and will more easily have access to role models themselves if I have autistic friends.
I can make an argument that because of this history of exclusion, unequal treatment, and inferior access to role models in leadership positions that women are specially deserving of a place to meet and develop professional connections.
And while there's no one-size-fits-all advice for how to pursue a policy career, it's a lot harder to get started if you don't have access to role models in whom you can see yourself (40percentt of PLEN participants are from populations historically, racially, or ethnically underrepresented in national public leadership and 13percentt are non-traditional age students).
The mentoring experience can provide access to role models, individual open discussion, and reliable resources for practical information [ 28].
Perceived preparedness to provide cross-cultural care was found in a US study of junior doctors to be related to the amount of training received and access to role models they considered good at providing cross-cultural care [ 27].
SCCT also recognizes the roles that personal characteristics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, disability status), learning experiences (e.g., access to role models, faculty or peer discouragement), and contextual supports and barriers can play in the process of career choice and development.
Particularly for competencies not represented in traditional medical education, the scope of practice might not be explicit and might not be consistently valued as definitive and necessary, especially for trainees with limited access to role models in emerging scopes of practice.
Maureen Dowd's Feb. 24 column, "Pompom Girl for Feminism," had the ring of truth regarding women's access to executive roles.
