THE LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Understand the importance of midwifery-led scholarship to advance global equity in maternal-child health. Describe an ecological approach to advancing scholarship and professional development. Develop strategies to advance midwifery faculty scholarship in academic settings.

THE PROCESS/ACTIVITIES:
Midwives face specific barriers to research engagement and subsequent advancement– heavy workloads, clinical responsibilities, and funding– hindering faculty scholarship. There is an urgent need to accelerate midwifery-led research and quality improvement to advance the midwifery model of care to address the global maternal and infant health crisis. The session, an interactive 90 minutes, builds skills through didactic learning, oral and written reflection exercises, paired and group dialogue, and embodiment practices for midwifery faculty to advance individual and collective midwifery-led scholarship. Participants will differentiate between midwife-as-collaborator and midwifery-led health equity scholarship. Internet connectivity, projection capabilities, and a dynamic space are required.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:
Participants will engage in small and large group activities, including deskwork and gentle movement. Participants will learn strategies to define their expertise, build trust, and identify synergies for future collaboration, leave with a draft of their research/scholarship statement, three priorities for research/scholarship, and a collaboration map to expand their networks; identify effective time management strategies, with a focus on boundaries when there are competing demands. Additional reading Bradford HM, Slota P. Barriers to nontenure-track faculty scholarship in a research-intensive university. Nurse Educator. 2023;48(5):290-291. Bristor MW, West DL. An ecological approach to empower the learner. Hum Ecol Rev. 1996;3(2):212-217. Menzies JC, Brand S, Bench S, Bramley L, Smith V, Henshall C. Increasing nursing and midwifery research leadership: impact evaluation of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Senior Nurse and Midwife Research Leader Programme at 1 year. J Res Nurs. 2023;28(6-7):516-528. Williams LB, Surratt HL, King VL, Kern PA. The Disparities Researchers Equalizing Access For Minorities (DREAM) Scholars Program: career development for underrepresented health equity researchers. J Clin Transl Sci. 2021;5(1):e170.