Link and Grow aims to address gender inequity in health and medicine, and to create a global interdisciplinary peer support program for women health professionals
Women represent the majority in the global health sector workforce (70%). However, they are significantly under-represented at leadership levels, with only 30% of leadership positions within healthcare being occupied by women. It is now apparent through emerging literature, that the COVID-19 crisis has worsened these disparities, as women have shouldered extra care burdens during the pandemic. This includes roles in the workplace and at home.
Women with diverse backgrounds, especially those in early phases of their career represent an important group to target in promotion, leadership development, support, and mentoring. Spaces for women to share their stories and to learn from colleagues remain limited. Link and Grow will fill this gap and provide interactive and inspiring platforms for women health professionals across Australia, NZ, Asia and the Asia Pacific. This project aims to offer women in healthcare access to peer opportunities through networking and mentoring events and projects.
There are 2 projects planned as part of this limb - mentorship and diverse stories from the pandemic.
Women in Healthcare: breaking the bias
Panel discussion held on International Women's Day (#IWD), 8 March 2022
Moderator: A/Prof. Dipti Talaulikar. Panel: Associate Professor Anna Olsen; Dr Marrwah Ahmadzai, Dr Sandra Krishnan and Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake.
If you have any questions or would like to be involved in the Link and Grow initiative you can contact the team on: international.health@anu.edu.au
Link and Grow Mentoring Program
Mentorship is an investment for growth and development for both mentees and mentors. By providing the opportunity for collaboration between mentors from a variety of backgrounds and culturally diverse women, especially those in the early phases of their careers, this initiative seeks to contribute to increasing diverse women's leadership in healthcare. Both mentees and mentors will be provided with support and resources to assist with working towards the goals of the collaboration.
Learn about our mentoring program
Link and Grow Podcast Series
The Link and Grow Podcast Series gives voice to the experiences of diverse women in the health workforce. This series is hosted by Tanvi Nangrani, an ANU post-graduate student completing a Master of Clinical Psychology, who speaks with several successful women health professionals who share their career journeys and the challenges they have overcome. Each guest provides invaluable advice for navigating gender and cultural discrimination within the health sector.
Link and Grow Blog/Vlog: Diverse Stories from the Pandemic
This initiative aims to address gender inequity for women from diverse backgrounds. Diversity is known to be associated with innovation, increased productivity, improved accuracy in risk assessment and with improved patient health outcomes.
The diversity blog/vlog will aim to showcase and amplify untold experiences of diverse women in health. It will capture stories from across the world and from a variety of healthcare backgrounds.
How to submit a blog entry
Are you a female healthcare professional from a non-Anglo-Celtic culturally/ethnically diverse background?
Do you want to share your story with a global audience?
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
‘Link and Grow’ is seeking stories for its blog, hosted through the Australian National University website, showcasing the experiences of ethnically diverse women in healthcare. We want to highlight diverse real-life voices, and capture stories from across the world from all healthcare fields. We aim to:
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Amplify the untold stories of ethnically diverse women in healthcare
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Redefine impact and leadership
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Inspire women from diverse backgrounds to take on leadership roles in healthcare
Blog entries should be 500-800 words or a 3-minute video and address the following:
- Tell us about yourself.
- What healthcare contribution or personal perspective would you like to share?
- What barriers have you faced? How did you overcome them?
- What is your message to other women in healthcare who may be reading this?
Instructions
- Please provide a title for your blog
- Text should be left aligned, no returns unless it is for a new paragraph, Arial or Times Roman font, 12pt size, in a word document
- We will check/review and edit your submission prior to posting
- Please provide a high resolution, landscape orientation photo in jpg format to accompany your blog. (resolution: approx. 1000 x 750 pixels)
- Please email the blog entry to international.health@anu.edu
30 Jun 2022
Ashna Basu is a proponent of making change when possible rather than waiting for the perfect moment.
14 Jun 2022
Janki Patki learned a lot about her own resilience and empathy during the pandemic.
24 May 2022
Dr Hossain says the experiences of the past two years have molded her into a strong and more fearless individual.
18 May 2022
A cancer diagnosis during the pandemic taught Dr Shah to seize the moment.
12 May 2022
Dipti Talaulikar and Jay Poria are the brains behind COVID-19 Peer Support Program, which started as a way to support medical colleagues in India.
11 May 2022
Dr Kavitha Vegunta was in the middle of expanding her dental business when COVID hit. She credits the pandemic for making her and her team better equipped to...
14 Apr 2022
Dr Kirsty Rady was on maternity leave when the pandemic commenced but COVID brought her back to the workforce earlier than expected.
14 Apr 2022
Dr Asha Shah was unable to join the frontline doctors due to her age, but that didn't stop her from making a huge contribution during the pandemic.
12 Apr 2022
Lynette Chairuka is a senior scientist who was asked to step into a leadership role during one of the busiest times during the pandemic.
6 Apr 2022
Dr Shalini Pandya's front-line pandemic experience - dealing with bed, medication and staff shortages, plus loss of lives - has changed her outlook on...
4 Apr 2022
Surgeon, Dr Sandra Krishnan is passionate about making a positive difference. She teaches, mentors, and started a community for young women called Note to...