Leadership, Gender and Stereotypical Concordance during Trauma Patient Resuscitation

1. Leadership, Gender and Stereotypical Concordance during Trauma Patient Resuscitation SUMR Scholars: Brittany Harris and Brittany Milliner Mentor: Maureen McCunn, MD

2. Specific Aims of the Study • To determine if stereotypical concordance impacts the trauma team • To determine the most common leadership styles, traits and behaviors seen in female versus male trauma team leaders. • To determine if gender-typical behaviors, traits and styles of leadership improve perceived effectiveness of the leader.

3. Background Information • Definitive trauma team leadership has been shown to improve trauma resuscitation performance. • There are no studies looking at the role of gender on the effectiveness of trauma team leadership. • More stereotypic male qualities are linked to effective leadership characteristics than are stereotypic female qualities • When women behave in a more stereotypically masculine way, it may trigger negative reactions.

4. Background (Cont.) • Trauma teams have been characterized as: • High reliability- often composed of short-term member involvement • Extreme action- having layered levels of leadership (hierarchy) • These characteristics are due to both the critical nature of the interaction, often involving life-and-death decisions, and the transient composition of the trauma team • Literature has highlighted the need for a better understanding of: • Team functioning and team leadership • The actions of the team leader and their impact on team dynamics, and the outcome of the group (patient survival).

5. Summary of Traditional Gender-related Characteristics

6. Hypotheses • Females who adopt traditional feminine actions, and males who adopt traditional masculine actions, will be rated more highly than females demonstrating masculine actions or males demonstrating feminine actions. • Traditional female leadership will be viewed as empowering and traditional male leadership will be viewed as directive. • Male trauma team leaders more often engage in a translational leadership style, and demonstrate instrumental traits and agenticbehaviors (Traditional “male”) • Female trauma team leaders also more often engage in a translational leadership style, and demonstrate instrumental traits and agenticbehaviors (Traditional “male”) rather than in a transformational leadership style, with expressive traits and communal behaviors (Traditional “female”) • Gender-typical leadership improves trauma team dynamics as measured by team effectiveness.

7. Methods • Participant Observations • Semi-structured, open ended interviews with 20 physicians (attending, fellow and resident), nurses, and technicians as well • Interviews will be transcribed and analyzed for: • Leadership Style • Gender-typical Traits • Gender-typical Behavior • Field notes

8. Some Preliminary Findings

9. Limitations • Dynamic nature of the trauma team • Very few female trauma surgeons • Difficult to obtain interviews • Medical inexperience of research assistants • Unpredictability of trauma cases

10. What I Took From This Experience • Invaluable medical experience • How difficult it can be to obtain information from subjects • Research training • How “real” trauma is • There is always someone lower than you on the totem pole