Empowering highly productive women anaesthetists to achieve equity, promotion and leadership.

Brief history

Despite advances over recent decades, there exists a significant gender gap in terms of career progression, promotion, academic advancement, research grants and pay parity. Women and underrepresented gender anaesthetists and pain medicine specialists are less likely to be published or be involved in the editorial process for leading publications. They are less likely to hold positions of leadership especially when associated with remuneration. Once women qualify as a specialist anaesthetist and/ or pain medicine specialist in their 30s, they can expect to be paid anywhere up to 12.5% less than their male counterparts on an hourly basis. A gap which is exaggerated by age and the number of children she has. We are seeking to help redress these issues with the establishment of an Australian and New Zealand chapter of the highly successful Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI) established by the US Society of Pediatric Anesthesia in 2018. This will be the first chapter established outside the US. The project has the tripartite support of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA), and the Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia New Zealand and Australia (SPANZA), and is an ongoing collaboration with the (US) WELI.

ausnzweli about us page

WELI Podcast

Dr Suzi Nou chats with leaders in paediatric anaesthesia, Professor Nina Deutsch and Associate Professor Larry Schwartz in the episode 83 of the Australian Anaesthesia podcast. They are two of the founders of the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI).

Listen to episode 83 below to learn more about WELI:

Structure

AUS/NZ WELI is a chapter of the WELI formed by the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. It consists of an  Advisory board, Curriculum and workshop subcommittee and Outcomes subcommittee. WELI has tripartite support from ANZCA, ASA and SPANZA.

Dr Suzi Nou

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT, ASA

Dr Tanya Farrell

TREASURER, SPANZA

Dr Maryann Turner

COUNCILLOR, ANZCA