Experiencing Sponsorship: A Qualitative Study of Gender Differences Amongst Academic OTO Leaders

Introduction: Women in academic otolaryngology (OTO) are more likely to hold leadership positions in departments run by women, suggesting a role for sponsorship in career success; however, current data lacks experiential context. We queried sponsorship experiences amongst male and female OTO leaders to analyze gender-related differences.

Methods: Academic OTO leaders were identified on department websites and solicited for interviews to discuss personal sponsorship experiences. Interviews were conducted via Zoom and transcribed via Notta.Ai. Interviews were analyzed by two separate coders on Dedoose (qualitative coding app).

Results: 30 interviews were conducted from Jun-Dec 2024; 24 (80%) participants were female. Amongst women, leadership roles included department chair (20.8%), program director (8.3%), assistant program director (12.5%), vice chair (12.5%), division chief (25%), other (33.3%); men were department chairs (83.3%) and program directors (16.6%). Women had on average 13.8 years in practice (R 2-29 y) vs. men had 21.8 years (R 14-36 y). Cohen’s Kappa was 0.442.

Men and women were equally likely to cite sponsorship as key to success, but women were 1.8x more likely to indicate self-advocacy also played a role. Most (70%) reported positive sponsorship experiences; negative experiences (N=2) were only reported by women. More leaders cited strong male sponsors (70%) than female sponsors (26.7%); many women (66.7%) noted a lack of female role models within the field. Regarding obstacles women face in career advancement, both men and women named societal expectations (76.7%), balancing family/demands on time (70%), and "the leaky pipeline" (43.3%); women also noted lack of resources (40%), obfuscation of process (30%), and unrecognized work (26.7%).

Conclusions: Academic OTO leaders credit sponsorship as pivotal to career success; self-advocacy plays a bigger self-reported role for women. Both genders recognize burden of time, bottleneck effect, and societal expectations as disadvantageous to women; women also perceive differences in resource allocation, promotion clarity, and unrecognized work.