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Oncology Career

Essentials

Curated books, podcasts, and articles — with one concrete move on every card.

Diversity & Belonging

20 cards on this shelf

Essentials · Article

Not negotiating a first salary can cost a woman more than half a million dollars over a career.

The Big Idea

In Women Don't Ask, economist Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever document a costly gap: men are about four times more likely than equally qualified women to ask for higher pay, and many women don't even realize negotiating is an option. By neglecting to negotiate a first salary, a woman may forgo over $500,000 in lifetime earnings — so the first, decisive step is simply choosing to ask.

Why It Matters

In a field where many professionals undervalue their worth, recognizing that the offer is a starting point — not a verdict — and choosing to negotiate protects your earning trajectory.

One Move

Decide to negotiate your next offer — the single act that closes much of the gap.

Essentials · Episode

How HR actually builds your offer — the formulas, leveling, and internal equity behind the number.

The Big Idea

Chris Castin gives Tom Caravela the HR view of MSL offers: how compensation and titles are set by formulas, data, and internal equity — and why that should shape how you negotiate.

Why It Matters

Oncology candidates negotiate blind without understanding how offers are constructed; knowing the HR logic lets you ask for the right things.

One Move

Ask about leveling and internal equity in your next negotiation — not just the salary number.

Essentials · Episode

How cultural fluency — not just competence — shapes better medical outcomes.

The Big Idea

Sonika Garcia and Suzi Fraze explore with Tom Caravela the role of medical anthropology in medical affairs — cultural competence versus fluency, and how cultural context shapes scientific communication.

Why It Matters

Cultural context shapes how oncology patients and KOLs make decisions; fluency in it makes MSLs more effective and equitable.

One Move

Learn one cultural factor that influences treatment decisions in the populations you serve.

Essentials · Book

Paul Farmer and the fight for global health equity.

The Big Idea

Kidder's portrait of Farmer's mission to bring care to the world's poorest.

Why It Matters

Global oncology disparities are vast; this is the inspiration for caring about access everywhere.

One Move

Learn one fact about cancer-care access in a low-resource setting.

Essentials · Episode

How DEMA and networking are expanding diversity in Medical Affairs.

The Big Idea

Rachel Kennedy, Lashondra Taylor, and Nirav Shah share with Tom Caravela the mission of DEMA and how networking opens doors for new MSLs and job seekers.

Why It Matters

Diversity strengthens oncology medical affairs; networking organizations like DEMA help widen who gets in.

One Move

Join one professional community that broadens your network beyond your current circle.

Essentials · Article

A mentor gives advice; a sponsor changes careers; an ally takes action.

The Big Idea

Mentorship, sponsorship, and allyship are distinct: a mentor gives advice, a sponsor uses their influence to advocate for someone when they're not in the room — opening doors to stretch assignments and promotions — and an ally takes consistent action to support and amplify colleagues from underrepresented groups, with them rather than for them. The often-cited gap: talented people from underrepresented groups are over-mentored and under-sponsored.

Why It Matters

In oncology and biopharma, careers turn on visibility and access; choosing to sponsor and amplify others is one of the most concrete ways to build an inclusive profession.

One Move

Sponsor someone with less visibility than you — name them for an opportunity when they're not in the room.

Essentials · Article

You don't have to be prejudiced to be biased — but you can learn to check it.

The Big Idea

Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt shows that implicit bias — the beliefs and feelings about social groups that influence our decisions even when we're unaware of them — shapes perception, attention, memory, and behavior. You don't have to be prejudiced to be biased; it's a human tendency present at every level. The encouraging news: we aren't doomed by it, and slowing down high-stakes decisions and adding structure measurably reduce its pull.

Why It Matters

Bias quietly shapes who gets hired, credited, sponsored, and enrolled in trials; in oncology and biopharma, surfacing and checking it is both a fairness issue and a scientific-quality one.

One Move

Slow down your next big decision about a person — hiring, crediting, evaluating — and check it for unexamined assumptions.

Essentials · Article

Diversity only pays off when people feel safe enough to speak up.

The Big Idea

Belonging is the feeling that your whole, authentic self has a place on the team — and research links it directly to performance, creativity, and retention. The catch for diverse teams: diversity only delivers its benefits when people feel psychologically safe enough to speak up and dissent. When employees instead spend energy “covering” — hiding parts of who they are — both belonging and contribution shrink.

Why It Matters

Field-medical and biopharma teams are increasingly diverse and distributed; the ones that build genuine belonging get the full benefit of their people's perspectives rather than a quiet, self-editing team.

One Move

Make it a habit to invite the quietest person in the room to share their view before you decide.

Essentials · Article

In diverse settings, CQ predicts effectiveness better than IQ or EQ.

The Big Idea

Cultural intelligence (CQ), defined by David Livermore, is the learnable capability to work effectively across cultures — national, ethnic, organizational, and generational. It has four parts: CQ Drive (the motivation to engage), CQ Knowledge (reading cultural patterns), CQ Strategy (planning and adjusting), and CQ Action (adapting your behavior without losing your core). In diverse settings it predicts effectiveness better than IQ or EQ.

Why It Matters

Global biopharma teams and KOL networks span continents and cultures; CQ is what turns that diversity into productive collaboration rather than friction.

One Move

Adapt your communication style in your next cross-cultural meeting instead of assuming your default works for everyone.

Essentials · Article

Givers often end up at the very top — by building deep reservoirs of trust.

The Big Idea

Adam Grant's research distinguishes givers, takers, and matchers — and finds that givers, who contribute without keeping score, often end up at the very top because they build deep reservoirs of trust and goodwill. The caveat is that the most successful givers are “otherish,” not selfless doormats: they give generously while protecting their own time and energy.

Why It Matters

Inclusive, high-trust teams are built on everyday generosity — sharing credit, making introductions, amplifying others; in relationship-driven oncology roles, that giving compounds into both culture and career.

One Move

Give first this week — a connection, feedback, or credit — without keeping score of what comes back.

Essentials · Article

What leaders say and do drives up to 70% of whether people feel included.

The Big Idea

Research on inclusive leadership finds that what leaders say and do drives up to roughly 70% of whether people feel included — and that inclusive teams make better decisions and collaborate more. The behaviors are learnable: visible commitment, humility, awareness of one's own bias, curiosity about others, cultural intelligence, and effective collaboration.

Why It Matters

Whether leading a field team or a cross-functional project, oncology professionals who practice these behaviors unlock more candor, better science, and stronger retention.

One Move

Ask your team what would make them feel more included — then act visibly on one thing you hear.

Essentials · Article

Five practical ways to build diversity and inclusion into MSL hiring — starting with the data.

The Big Idea

Caravela outlines how organizations make D&I hiring real: cross-functional alignment to hire without bias, beginning with a data audit of which groups are under-represented.

Why It Matters

Oncology's workforce is diverse and its leadership often isn't; hiring managers who build inclusion into the process deliberately are the ones who actually move the needle.

One Move

Start with the data if you hire — audit where your team is under-represented before changing anything else.

Essentials · Article

Representative enrollment isn't only equity — it's scientific rigor.

The Big Idea

Diverse, representative enrollment isn't only an equity goal — it's a scientific one. Inclusive trials improve the generalizability of findings, build trust in the results, and make it possible to detect treatment-response differences across subgroups, which is central to precision oncology. Yet cancer-trial participants still skew disproportionately white, younger, and healthier than the patient population, which is why the FDA now asks for Diversity Action Plans in pivotal trials.

Why It Matters

For everyone in oncology drug development, championing representative trials directly improves the quality and reach of the medicines being studied — diversity and rigor are the same goal here.

One Move

Champion broader eligibility and representative enrollment in the next trial or insight discussion you touch.

Essentials · Book

Trade the pursuit of perfect for the courage to be brave.

The Big Idea

Saujani's case that socialized perfectionism holds women back, and bravery frees them.

Why It Matters

Perfectionism is rampant among high-achieving oncology professionals; brave over perfect unlocks more.

One Move

Do one thing imperfectly on purpose this week — and ship it anyway.

Essentials · Book

The habits that quietly hold women back — and how to break them.

The Big Idea

Helgesen and Goldsmith identify twelve self-limiting habits and how to change them.

Why It Matters

Specific, fixable behaviors keep talented women from advancing in oncology leadership.

One Move

Pick the one habit on their list that most sounds like you, and work it.

Essentials · Book

Women, work, and the will to lead — the conversation-starter on ambition.

The Big Idea

Sandberg's mix of data and candor on the barriers women face and how to lean into leadership.

Why It Matters

Oncology's workforce skews female while its leadership often doesn't; this names the gap and the moves.

One Move

Identify one opportunity you've been hanging back from — and put your hand up.

Essentials · Book

The unconscious mistakes that sabotage women's careers — and the fixes.

The Big Idea

Frankel catalogs self-defeating behaviors and offers concrete coaching for each.

Why It Matters

Many capable oncology professionals undercut themselves in small ways; this makes them visible.

One Move

Spot one such habit in how you communicate this week and adjust it.

Essentials · Episode

How MSLs can help make clinical trials more diverse — and why it matters for patients.

The Big Idea

Brad Atkinson, Brian Wilson, and Christina Wright join Tom Caravela on diversity in clinical trials — FDA guidance, the historical context, and the strategic role MSLs play in fostering inclusivity.

Why It Matters

Trial diversity directly affects whether oncology therapies work for all patients; MSLs are positioned to advance it through education and KOL relationships.

One Move

Learn the FDA's diversity guidance for trials, and identify one way your KOL work could support enrollment diversity.

Essentials · Episode

How to build a DEI program in pharma — from structure to company-wide buy-in.

The Big Idea

Tara Gonzalez shares with Tom Caravela how to establish DEI programs — the challenges, how to structure the function, and how to engage the whole company.

Why It Matters

Diverse teams strengthen oncology medical affairs; knowing how DEI programs are built helps you contribute to or lead one.

One Move

Identify one concrete action that would make your team or hiring more inclusive, and propose it.

Essentials · Episode

The role MSLs can play in advancing health equity — and why it matters.

The Big Idea

Ariel Katz of H1 joins Tom Caravela to define health equity, its causes, and the concrete role MSLs and pharma leaders can play in advancing it through patient advocacy.

Why It Matters

Health equity is central to oncology's mission and increasingly to its regulation; MSLs who understand their role in it contribute to better, fairer care.

One Move

Identify one way your work could reduce a disparity in access or care, and raise it with your team.

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