Mapping pathways to professional support: The role of mentorship, coaching, and sponsorship in surgical careers

Mentorship, coaching, and sponsorship are critical for professional advancement in surgical careers. This study examines these different forms of support among surgeons and trainees.

An electronic survey was developed and disseminated on social media and was hosted by the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS). Members and non-members of the AWS from diverse backgrounds, including trainees and students and those in academic and community practices were queried on various demographic and professional characteristics. The primary outcome of interest was access to mentorship, sponsorship and coaching. Chi-square, Fisher's exact tests, and logistic regression models were applied to analyze survey responses.

Of 93 respondents, 48 ​% reported knowing the difference between mentors, coaches, and sponsors. 65 ​% of participants reported having a mentor, 28 ​% a sponsor, and 17 ​% a coach. Community-based surgeons were less likely to have mentors compared to academic surgeons (OR 0.09, 95 ​% CI 0.01-0.69, p ​= ​0.02). Administrative leaders were more likely to have sponsors (admin leaders 44.8 ​% vs. non admin 21.3 ​%, p ​= ​0.02) and coaches (admin leaders 31 ​% vs. non admin 11.5 ​%, p ​= ​0.02). Identifying people within one's organization and time constraints were the most common barriers to having that support.

Efforts by institutions and surgical societies are needed to increase the availability of mentors, sponsors and coaches, particularly for community-based and early-career surgeons.