Determinants of leadership attainment among ASCO Leadership Development Program, 2009–2025.

Abstract

9037 Background: Determinants of leadership attainment among participants in formal leadership development programs remain poorly characterized. We examined the factors associated with leadership attainment among graduates of the ASCO Leadership Development Program (LDP). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of ASCO LDP participants from 2009–2025. Leadership attainment following participation in the ASCO LDP was the primary outcome, defined as cancer Center Director, Division Chair, Subspecialty Chief, or Program Director, as identified through publicly available data. Participant characteristics included gender, medical training (American medical graduate [AMG], international medical graduate [IMG]), education (MD, MD/PhD, MD/Master’s), National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation, geographic region (West, Northeast, South, North Central, non-US), and scholarly productivity (h-index). Descriptive analyses were performed overall and by leadership status. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted associations, including gender–NCI designation interaction. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. Results: Among 216 eligible participants, 165 (76.4%) attained leadership roles. Participants were predominantly female (n=116, 53.7%), AMGs (n=157, 72.7%), MDs (n=129, 59.7%) and affiliated with NCI-designated centers (n=145, 67.1%). Median h-index was 39 (IQR 25–57), and participants were mostly based in the Northeast (n=77, 35.6%) and West (n=53, 24.5%) regions. Compared with non-leaders, leaders demonstrated higher scholarly productivity, with a higher median h-index (42 [IQR 25–59] vs 29 [IQR 20–44], p =0.042). Using NCI-designated females as the reference group, NCI-designated males demonstrated higher odds of leadership attainment in adjusted models (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 0.96–6.06, p =0.067). Compared with participants from the West, those based in the South demonstrated lower odds of leadership attainment (AOR 0.35, 95% CI 0.12–0.98, p =0.050), independent of gender, education, NCI designation, and year. Leadership attainment remained stable over time, with no consistent temporal trends across subgroups. Conclusions: Leadership attainment in ASCO LDP was stable over time and associated with scholarly productivity and geographic region rather than gender or institutional setting. Adjusted odds of leadership attainment by gender–NCI designation interaction and geographic region. Variable Category Adjusted OR (95% CI) p value Gender × NCI NCI Female Reference — NCI Male 2.34 (0.96–6.06) 0.069 Non-NCI Female 2.04 (0.71–6.43) 0.201 Non-NCI Male 1.17 (0.43–3.32) 0.760 Region West Reference — Northeast 0.64 (0.23–1.65) 0.366 South 0.35 (0.12–0.98) 0.050 North Central 0.45 (0.14–1.49) 0.183 Non-US 0.32 (0.07–1.44) 0.141 Gender × NCI modeled as a combined interaction term (ref: NCI female).