BEGINNING CAREERS IN ACADEMIC PSYCHIATRY FOR WOMEN - BERMUDA TRIANGLE

The proportion of women in leadership positions in academic psychiatry as no kept pace with the increase in the number of women entering the field. This study examines differences in career activities between w omen and men who graduated from the Yale University psychiatric reside ncy training program and explores whether these differences can be exp lained by preresidency expectations, residency experiences, or trainin g immediately after residency. Method: Departmental educational record s of the Yale residency program were reviewed to determine professiona l interests expressed before psychiatric residency and training focus during residency for 355 residents in the 1970-1983 graduating classes . A 1984 follow-up study focused on their postresidency career activit ies. Differences in preresidency interests and experiences, training a ctivities, and career paths between all female and male graduates and between women and men who chose academic careers were examined. Result s: After residency, the female graduates' marital status differed from men's more had never married or were divorced. Women's professional a ctivities diverged from men's; their practice pattern was different, t hey spent more hours teaching, and they had fewer publications in peer -reviewed journals. This divergence was not accounted for by differenc es in pretraining interests or in training focus during residency. The authors present possible explanations. Conclusions: Further research is indicated to determine the underlying causes of career differences between women and men in psychiatric practice and academia so that eff ective strategies for correcting the present inequality of women in se nior faculty Positions can be implemented.