Equality & Diversity Task Force
The Equality and Diversity Task Force (E&D TF) was established by the UEG Council in 2015 and consists of seven members, including a Chair. The Chair serves as an advocate of relevant issues and provides a report on the Task Force’s activities and recommendations to the UEG Council once a year.
The aim of the group is to ensure that equal opportunities are given to all UEG members. The E&D TF promotes equality in gastroenterology, uniting members of all genders, ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities and experiences. Furthermore, the group helps to fulfil the aspirations of junior members to become successful leaders, as well as the experienced gastroenterologist to share their expertise in research, education and practice. Over the years the group has organised several events during UEG Week, such as Career Chat sessions at the Young GI Lounge, contributed to Hotspot debates where topics and practical issues for men and women in gastroenterology are discussed. The E&D TF aims at inspiring and encouraging others and learning how to combine aspirations in our personal life with the pressures and opportunities at work. The group regularly contributes to the mentoring of young GIs and this year is launching its first networking event for females at UEG Week (Tuesday 22 October 2019, 17:30–19:00, Fira Gran Via Barcelona). Additionally, the E&D TF acts as a Search Committee for open positions on the UEG Boards, Committees and Task Forces by encouraging suitable female candidates and other under-represented groups to apply. Following the E&D TF’s recommendation, UEG Council extended the age limits for UEG activities (e.g. grants, prizes, classroom courses, etc.) by two additional years per child for which the applicant (male or female) was the main carer. The E&D TF is currently working on a survey directed at women with the main aim of collecting data regarding barriers for congress participation as well as barriers for taking volunteer roles in the Boards, Committees and Task Forces of UEG.
In 2018, following discussions with the UEG Council, the E&D TF was invited to nominate one of its members as representative to attend Council meetings. The Council has been very supportive and positive about the achievements and activities of the E&D TF.
Summary of events organised and contributed to by the E&D TF
2016
Career Chat: Meet the women who broke the glass ceiling with Deirdre McNamara, Helena Cortez-Pinto and Elisabetta Buscarini, moderated by Nurdan Tözün and Madaline Ilie. Organised for the first time in 2016, with the aim of providing young gastroenterologists with an insight into different success stories of experienced colleagues and thus encouraging them to follow similar career paths. Attendance was very good and the discussion that followed was lively and of high quality. The Career Chat is a good opportunity to liaise with mentors and/or senior colleagues on a long-term basis.
Hotspot session: A survivor’s guide for a happy and successful career in gastroenterology hosted by Women in GI. The session was chaired by Rebecca Fitzgerald; Marianna Arvanitakis, Gijs van den Brink and Nurdan Tözün were invited to speak about the work–life balance and the path to follow for a successful career in GI.
2017
Career Chat: Top advice from female leaders and their fellows hosted by Rebecca Fitzgerald and Monika Widlak with invited panel speakers Siwan Thomas Gibson, Marianna Arvanitakis and Severine Vermeire, accompanied by their fellows.
Hotspot session: Cross-cultural differences and challenges for a career choice in GI was chaired by Marianna Arvanitakis with invited speakers Isabelle Cremers, Marcel Tantau and Naima Amrani, debating the GI training across and outside Europe. Here is the link to the recorded session: https://www.ueg.eu/education/session-files/?session=1850&conference=149
2018
Career Chat: Women as educators hosted by Oistein Hovde and Yasmijn van Herwaarden with invited panel speakers Gigi Veereman, Martina Muüller-Schilling and Carolina Ciacci. More details can be found at https://www.facebook.com/myUEG/videos/114739916081659/
Hotspot session: Women in interventional endoscopy: Are women less attracted by invasive procedures? We discussed why it is important for our patients to have more women trained as endoscopists (A Lahat,), how to get more females in the interventional endoscopy arena (B Rembacken) and hurdles and difficulties women face upon choosing interventional endoscopy (JE van Hooft, T Verlaan). Here is the link to UEG Library, where you can find the whole recorded session: https://www.ueg.eu/education/session-files/?session=1997&conference=153
2019
Career chat: Women in research will be hosted by Luigi Ricciardiello (Chair of the UEG Research Committee) with invited panel speakers Julia Mayerle, Iris Dotan and Patrizia Burra. It will be held on Tuesday 22 October 2019, 13:00–14:00, Young GI Lounge, UEG Week Barcelona.
Hotspot session: On Monday 21 October 2019, 12:45–13:30, Charlie Lees, Elisabetta Buscarini and Krisztina Gecse, chaired by Dina Tiniakos, will tackle the topic of Professional Risks and Burnout among gastroenterologists. For more details visit http://www.professionalabstracts.com/ueg2019/iplanner/#/session/55
‘Women in GI’ networking event
This year E&D TF is launching a ‘Women in GI – making equality a reality’ networking event at UEG Week. The purpose of this event is to enable female gastroenterology/surgical trainees, junior scientists and other GI health care professionals to meet with their peers and seniors to network, explore professional opportunities and establish contacts for future collaborations. This is going to be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the work on various UEG Boards, Committees and Task Forces from experts and give foundations to establish a strong network of women in gastroenterology.
No need to register. Just join us for the inaugural ‘Women in GI – making equality a reality’ networking events at Fira Gran Via Barcelona on Tuesday 22 October 2019, from 17:30 onwards. Snacks and light refreshments will be provided.
Women in UEG statistics
UEG is delighted to see that more women are getting involved in the digestive health scientific community. However, there is still some way to go in addressing the under-representation of women in the field. There has been an increasing number of females on the UEG Boards, Committees and Task Forces as well as at the UEG Week faculty. Last year at UEG Week Vienna, 26% of faculty members were female, which is an increase of 3.6% from the previous year. There has been 50% female participation in classroom courses. However, still only two of 12 UEG Boards and Committees have >50% female members. International scholarships had more female recipients last year (53.8%), but in contrast, the Rising Star Award showed a rate of only 12.5% female awardees. What are the barriers for females to apply? Hopefully, our upcoming E&D TF survey will help to answer this.
E&D TF communication and social media
E&D TF has been supporting various international social media initiatives, including the American College of Gastroenterology’s #DiversityInGI #WomenInGI campaign. In addition, this year the E&D TF published an article ‘Work–life balance: 10 tips from the UEG Week experience’. You will find the article by clicking the link https://www.ueg.eu/education/latest-news/article/article/work-life-balance-10-tips-from-the-ueg-week-2018-experience/
Future goals of the E&D TF
We will continue to encourage women and people from under-represented groups to apply for open positions on the Boards and Committees of UEG.
We will strengthen our networking to reach more trainees and established gastroenterologists to discuss barriers to career opportunities or research.
We will also use our survey to analyse other barriers especially for women to attend UEG Week and to take on leadership positions on the UEG Boards, Committees and Task Forces.
We will continue to create a close collaboration with the National Societies Committee and the Young Talent Group to disseminate our messages to various countries and groups involved in UEG.