Women have been flocking from the medical field during the pandemic, and a Harvard physician launched a gender equity campaign to encourage employers to support their female employees and bring awareness to why they are leaving.
When we gathered five years ago, at the annual RSNA conference in November 2016 to kick off RADxx, we could only hope that our initiative would make the kind of impact that we aspired to. Despite significant progress being made in the U.S. to increase the overall representation of women in healthcare, radiology has lagged behind. In fact, only about a quarter of active radiologists in the country are women, according to a 2016 Association of American Medical Colleges report.
The lack of representation gets further entrenched across the industry through fewer women participating in speaking engagements, represented on boards, or in other leadership positions. When women see other women speaking, when they read their byline in an academic journal, when they see other women serving in leadership positions in colleges and on boards, they see that not everyone in radiology looks the same. Many will say to themselves, “that could be me,” which in turn fosters a virtuous cycle and welcoming environment for women to thrive in our specialty.
Fast forward five years from that first RADxx event and the impact of our initiative can be felt across the globe — from regular virtual meet-ups and educational webinars to promoting a speakers’ bureau, recognizing outstanding leadership through an awards program, and even one-on-one mentorship, and most of all, friendship.
We are a robust, growing, and thriving community of women, men, and nonbinary individuals — united in the pursuit of better representation of women in the field of medical imaging and informatics.
But as our organization has grown, so have we. And through conversations with our members, we realized our name is inconsistent with the values and goals of inclusivity to which we aspire. The two female chromosomes to represent women in our name is a narrow and binary view of gender expression that excluded some in our community.
From today forward, RADxx (RAD Women) is becoming RAD= (RAD Equal). Our mission remains the same — to advance the representation of women in radiology and informatics, but our name better reflects the inclusive organization we are. Our pursuit is equality, and now, so is our name.
Listen to our on-demand webinar, featuring Dr. Geraldine McGinty, Dr. Elizabeth Hawk, and Dr. Melissa Davis. They will discuss all things pertaining to their careers as entrepreneurs.
What the panelists will discuss:
Listen to our on-demand webinar, featuring Dr. Geraldine McGinty, Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, Dr. Susanna Lee, and Dr. Sheela Agarwal. They will discuss all things pertaining to careers outside of a traditional radiology practice.
After the Talk, You Will Understand:
This month, we’re excited to celebrate the hard work and achievements of the RADxx community (and beyond) on match day! We look forward to seeing your entries as a RADxx Trailblazer in the years to come. 😊
Listen to our on-demand webinar, featuring Marty Réaume. Marty and Dr. Geraldine McGinty will discuss the journey to the boardroom of a female C-level executive in the technology space.
Marty has a passion for building world class HR talent and to providing an award-winning colleague experience to her workplace. She was recognized in 2020 as one of the Top 50 Women in Technology and has previously been awarded recognition as one of the Most Powerful and Influential Women by the Diversity Council, a Top Leader in Tech, a Top People Leader and her work has been featured in both Forbes and Fortune.
After this webinar, you will understand:
