Abstract Details

Title Parental Leave Experience for Academic Neurology Faculty at 19 Academic Centers

Topic Education, Research, and Methodology

Presentation(s) P5 - Poster Session 5 (11:45 AM-12:45 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 15-006

Background

Despite the rising number of women in academic neurology, there continues to be variability in PL policy, and we need to better understand PL challenges. We hypothesize PL does not impact academic achievements; however, women who take PL experience higher burnout.

Objective

Evaluate the impact of Parental Leave (PL) on career achievements and burnout for academic neurology faculty.

Design/Methods

The survey was administered to 19 US academic neurology centers from 2/2021-4/2022. Participants self-reported academic achievements (rank, leadership positions, publications, funded projects, awards, and speakerships), experience of PL, family work conflict, and burnout. Groupwise comparisons and regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of PL and gender on academic achievement outcomes and on burnout.

Results

Among 239 survey participants, 155 reported taking PL (75% female) and 84 did not (NoPL; 29% female). PL faculty received fewer awards (p=0.018) and experienced greater family-work conflict (p<0.001) than NoPL faculty. No significant group differences were found with other achievement metrics. Among PL faculty that had children, PL women had significantly lower numbers of first/last author publications compared to PL men (p=0.020). When holding rank constant, PL women received awards at rate 1.2 times that of NoPL women, while PL men received awards at rate of 0.34 times that of NoPL men. When holding rank constant, PL women are 6.7 times more likely to experience moderate emotional exhaustion compared to PL men.

Conclusions

Parental leave disproportionately affects women and men with respect to academic achievement and emotional exhaustion. In principle, PL is meant to provide support to faculty during a major life event, but the current climate in academic neurology is such that PL policies fall short of this. More work is necessary to resolve existing inequities in academic neurology, provide greater support for working parents, and develop more equitable PL policies.

Authors/Disclosures
Annie Z. He PRESENTER	Ms. He has nothing to disclose.
Parneet K. Grewal, MD (Medical University of South Carolina)	Dr. Grewal has nothing to disclose.
Kamala M. Rodrigues, MD	An immediate family member of Dr. Rodrigues has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Spine Biopharma. An immediate family member of Dr. Rodrigues has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for BlueJay Mobile-Health. An immediate family member of Dr. Rodrigues has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as an officer or member of the Board of Directors for Spine Intervention Society. An immediate family member of Dr. Rodrigues has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as an Expert Witness for State Farm. An immediate family member of Dr. Rodrigues has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Expert Witness for Kaiser Permanente. The institution of an immediate family member of Dr. Rodrigues has received research support from Relevant Medsystems.
Suma Shah, MD (Duke University Medical Center)	Dr. Shah has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Novartis. Dr. Shah has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Sanofi. The institution of Dr. Shah has received research support from Biogen. The institution of Dr. Shah has received research support from National MS Society.
Halley Alexander, MD (Wake Forest Baptsit Health)	Dr. Alexander has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for American Academy of Neurology. The institution of Dr. Alexander has received research support from National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institute of Health, Grant KL2TR001421.
Ailing E. Yang, MD	Dr. Yang has nothing to disclose.
Neishay Ayub, MD (Brown Neurology)	The institution of Dr. Ayub has received research support from Brown Physicians Incorporated. The institution of Dr. Ayub has received research support from Pappitto Opportunity Connection.
Christa O'hana S. Nobleza, MD	Dr. Nobleza has nothing to disclose.
Doris Kung, DO, FAAN (Baylor College of Medicine)	Dr. Kung has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Aquifer. The institution of Dr. Kung has received research support from RxFunction. Dr. Kung has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Kung has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as a Workgroup member with NBME. Dr. Kung has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Editor with Aquifer.
Natasha Frost, MD, FAAN (University of Wisconsin Department of Neurology)	Dr. Frost has nothing to disclose.
Seema Nagpal, MD, FAAN (Stanford Cancer Center)	Dr. Nagpal has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Novocure. Dr. Nagpal has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Mirati. Dr. Nagpal has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving as a Consultant for Servier. Dr. Nagpal has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Kiyatec. Dr. Nagpal has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Telix. Dr. Nagpal has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Midatech.
Sarah R. Durica, MD	An immediate family member of Dr. Durica has received personal compensation in the range of $100,000-$499,999 for serving as a Employee with Federal Aviation Administration.
Julie Silver (Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital)	No disclosure on file
Sima I. Patel, MD (UMP)	Dr. Patel has nothing to disclose.
Jane B. Allendorfer, PhD (U of Alabama At Birmingham, Neurology)	An immediate family member of Dr. Allendorfer has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Northport Health Services, LLC. The institution of Dr. Allendorfer has received research support from National Institutes of Health. The institution of Dr. Allendorfer has received research support from Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. The institution of Dr. Allendorfer has received research support from LivaNova, Inc. Dr. Allendorfer has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Speaker with Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Allendorfer has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as a Examiner with University of Auckland. Dr. Allendorfer has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Speaker with International League Against Epilepsy. Dr. Allendorfer has a non-compensated relationship as a Scientific Program Committee Member with American Epilepsy Society that is relevant to AAN interests or activities. Dr. Allendorfer has a non-compensated relationship as a Editorial Board Member with Epilepsy and Behavior Reports that is relevant to AAN interests or activities.
Sasha Alick-Lindstrom, MD, FACNS, FAES, FAAN (UT Southwestern Medical Center)	Dr. Alick-Lindstrom has nothing to disclose.