SESSION TITLE

From WiNTR to TEAM: How the Women in Neurotrauma program set the stage for mentoring trainees and promoting diversity in the National Neurotrauma Society TEAM

DESCRIPTION

Over the history of the National Neurotrauma Society, numerous current members have matured from graduate student and fellow into faculty roles, and ultimately into leadership. We take great pride as a society in the success of our proteges. However, when the first National Neurotrauma Symposium was held 37 years ago, women represented fewer than 15% of the membership and attendees. Over the first 25+ years, the society only had 4 women who held the position of president. In the last 10 years, membership has approached 50/50 and 60% of society presidents have been women. This change in participation and leadership was directly related to the success of the organization we all know as Women in Neurotrauma (WiNTR). As the role for women in our society evolved, so did the mission of WiNTR. Over the last 10 years, the focus has broadened from promoting women in general to training all of our junior scientists - graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty alike. This has prompted a significant transition for the organization, to now becoming a new entity - Training, Education and Mentorship (TEAM.) At the 2019 National Neurotrauma Society conference, we would like to introduce TEAM to the greater society. While the core tenets of TEAM remain similar to WiNTR, the newer goal is to provide mentoring, training and education for all of our junior members, with a specific focus on enhancing diversity in neurotrauma. One way to welcome the society’s transition to TEAM is by first celebrating the huge successes of its parent organization, WiNTR.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to

1. Recognize that, while there have been many positive changes over the past decades, there is still an enormous need to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within the fields of science, technology, engineering and math;
2. Demonstrate how training, education and mentoring have led to improved retention and promotion of junior scientists within our society;
3. Describe the value of diversity, equity and inclusion to the effectiveness and progress of the National Neurotrauma Society