Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/792366
t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 7 23 women, and just 16 percent of medical school deans are women. Stepping up For their years of service and contri- butions to the Texas Medical Center, Butel and Travis were inducted into the TMC Women's History Project in 2015. Since it launched in 2013, the project has selected five women from various TMC institutions every year who have paved the way for future women leaders in science and medicine. To be eligible, a woman must have worked at a TMC institution for at least 20 years. The Texas Medical Center has "a lot of terrific women," Travis said. And the project, she added, helps put faces and names to female leaders. "Leadership sets a tone," she said. "When women and minorities see people who look like them in leader- ship positions, they think they have that opportunity, as well. If there are no women in leadership positions, you may as well put up a big sign on the door that reads: 'Women need not apply.' I think it's up to people like myself, who are senior, to … make sure that women are prepared to step up and compete for leadership positions. I think that's critical. For me, that's what my life has really been about for the past eight to 10 years." Bearing witness to female lead- ers can be a source of inspiration to younger generations. "Women credited me for having an impact on their life, of which I was totally unaware," Butel said. "It was mostly just being there. They could see me. Sometimes they would ask me questions or ask for advice, but quite a number of the people who said this, I had no clue that they saw me persisting, surviving, accomplishing something. … It gave them hope and the knowledge that they can do this, too." If there are no women in leadership positions, you may as well put up a big sign on the door that reads: 'Women need not apply.' — ELIZABETH TRAVIS, PH.D. Associate Vice President of Women and Minority Faculty Inclusion at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Source: The State of Women in Academic Medicine: The Pipeline and Pathways to Leadership, 2013-2014, Association of American Medical Colleges 47% of students are women 46% of residents are women 38% of full-time faculty are women 33% of senior asso- ciate vice deans are women 24% of division chiefs are women 22% of tenured professors are women 21% of full professors are women 16% of deans are women 15% of department chairs are women WOMEN IN ACADEMIC MEDICINE Elizabeth Travis, Ph.D., at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.