Highlighting achievements and addressing obstacles for Black women in urology

All women in urology face challenges unique to their gender, but for Black women, those issues are both magnified and multiplied. At the Celebrating Black Women in Urology event on Sunday, panelists plan to address those issues in addition to honoring progress that has been made thus far.

The first half of the event, said Linda L. McIntire, MD, vice chair of the R. Frank Jones Urological Society, will cater specifically to Black women in the urology workforce. After a brief update from the AUA on diversity and inclusion and a plug for mentorship for Black women in urology, keynote speaker Carol Bennett, MD, chief of urology at the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center and the Henry E. Singleton chair in urology at UCLA, will explore reconciling work-life balance with promotion and gender pay equity in academic leadership roles.

“Dr. Bennett was one of the first black women to be board-certified in urology,” said Dr. McIntire. After Dr. Bennett’s keynote will be a roundtable discussion with other Black women urology leaders. After the roundtable, Dr. McIntire will lead a discussion about recent journal articles relevant for women in the urology workforce.

“In a spirit of sisterhood,” she said, “I invited some authors who are not African American. So, it’s going to be a cooperation. The first part of the event is specifically about African American women in the urology workforce, and the second part is about all women in the urology workforce. It has a dual function.”

Articles to be discussed in the second half of the session include:

• The Future is Female: Urology Workforce Projection from 2020 to 2060, Urology, Women in the Urologic Workforce, Volume 150, page 30-34, April 1, 2021.
• Rising Tides: Challenges and Opportunities for Women in the Urologic Workforce, Urology, Women in the Urologic Workforce, Volume 150, page 47-53, April 1, 2021.
• The Gender Pay Gap in Urology, Urology Practice, Volume 8, Issue 1, pages 149-154, Jan. 1, 2021.
• Gender and Racial Disparities in Early Urology Exposures during Medical School, Urology Practice, Volume 6, Issue 2, pages 129-134, March 1, 2019.

 Dr. McIntire hopes attendance at the event will be strong.

“It is important to focus on the challenges and achievements of Black women in urology to understand what is necessary to achieve health equity and equal representation in urology. As more underrepresented minorities are trained in our specialty, it will eventually translate into better health outcomes for minority groups,” she said. “This conference is important for all women because we have more in common than not. Our collective voice as women can and will ignite the necessary changes in our specialty for generations to come.”

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