Over the years working in faculty development, Jessica Schonberg, M.Ed., has learned that when it comes to creating a sense of belonging in the workplace, connection is key. As director of educational programs in the School of Medicine’s Office for Faculty, Schonberg designs seminars and other events aimed at helping faculty make connections and develop skills that are vital to career development and creating an inclusive work environment. In this month’s spotlight, Schonberg explains how these seminars, along with a recent restorative justice program, give attendees a chance to come together with their peers, learn that they are not alone in the professional challenges they face, and discover new ways to make a meaningful impact at work.
What is a typical day like for you in your current role as director of educational programs in the Office for Faculty?
I’m sure everyone says this, but no two days are ever the same. The largest share of my time is devoted to faculty development, designing, implementing, and evaluating programming for School of Medicine faculty. Our work is people-focused, so it takes time and attention to ensure we’re meeting our goal of supporting a thriving community. Asking lots of questions and deep listening are key functions of my job so that awareness of the many different experiences people are having within the institution stays front and center as programming evolves. The Office for Faculty includes multiple domains – faculty development; appointments, promotion, and tenure; professionalism; leadership support; and research mentoring. Each of those has an educational component, so part of my role is to serve as a bridge between those domains.
Much of your work focuses on faculty development across the School of Medicine. What are some of the faculty development programs offered by the Office for Faculty?
We offer a variety of faculty development seminars on topics related to what I like to call “professional survival skills,” a term I picked up from one of my mentors, Vice Dean for Faculty Emerita Ann Brown, MD, MHS. Professional survival skills are things like conflict management, team dynamics, emotional intelligence, negotiation – all the interpersonal practices that are vital to creating a positive and inclusive work environment. These sessions are coupled with more practical trainings on things like understanding institutional structure and the promotions process. All of this starts with a New Faculty Orientation program each fall. Orientation gives new (and new-ish) faculty a chance to get to know a bit of the history of Duke in Durham, how we got to where we are today, and how things operate within the system. It’s also a place where we have begun introducing people to restorative practices as a way to build community.
How can faculty development contribute to a sense of belonging at work?
The longer I do this work, the more convinced I am that connectedness is the secret sauce. Regardless of the topic, we hear again and again how impactful it is to come together with peers to share experiences of a particular issue, to connect with an affinity group, or to seek peer support more generally. Program evaluations repeatedly state that participation helps individuals realize they are not alone in the challenges they face. Knowing other people are wrestling with similar issues as you is huge when it comes to belonging. It can decrease feelings of isolation or imposter syndrome and create space to actually experiment with the professional development skills you came to learn.
Faculty development sessions are also a place where people are sometimes vulnerable in sharing their experiences with others. An important element of planning an effective session is thinking about how to create an environment of psychological safety where that sharing can happen. Being heard and having your experiences validated are additional factors that can contribute to a sense of belonging. This focus on connection is aligned with restorative practices and the idea that shared humanity is at the root of our existence.
You are involved with the School of Medicine’s Restorative Justice Program. Can you tell us a little about your involvement with the program and the impact that restorative practices can have on well-being and burnout in the workplace?
I have been interested in restorative practices for a number of years now, having first been exposed through trainings led by Ada Gregory from the Kenan Institute of Ethics, and later trained as a facilitator through the Association of American Medical Colleges. In 2023, I had the opportunity to serve as the administrative lead for the School of Medicine year-long pilot program, “Shifting the Paradigm: Restorative Justice as a Framework for Workforce Well-being.” In this role I convened practitioners and coaches to develop and implement curriculum for a competitively selected group of faculty-staff teams from across the School of Medicine. Participants were trained in Restorative Justice (RJ) principles and practices, and began to implement these practices within their units. Restorative practices are drawn from indigenous cultures throughout the world. There is no single agreed upon definition of RJ. For this program, we defined RJ as an ethical framework that focuses on building community by living our shared values of respect, honesty, responsibility, empathy, and inclusivity.
Karen Steinhauser, PhD, from Population Health Sciences, and Laura Fish, PhD, from Family Medicine and Community Health, led an evaluation of the pilot program. The evaluation primarily focused on feasibility and acceptability of the program, and qualitative feedback from focus groups and interviews suggested restorative practices could potentially impact well-being and burnout. Participants talked about the value of connecting with people they didn’t know, developing new relationships, building mutual respect, and deepening understanding and appreciation of others’ contributions.
For me personally, operating with a restorative mindset is a way to approach the world with more curiosity, capacity to consider different perspectives, and creativity about how we solve problems. Restorative practices give everyone a voice, beginning with those most impacted by a situation. We are all interconnected as people, and this program provided space to explore what that means for how we interact with one another to proactively create the culture we want, and to repair harm when things go wrong.
The formal links between restorative practices, well-being, and burnout should be further studied, but I’m hopeful based upon the personal examples I have seen. We are fortunate that we have people throughout Duke Health entities implementing restorative practices, and I’m optimistic about what that means for our future.
What passions or hobbies do you have outside of work?
Outside of work I enjoy reading, vegetarian cooking, haphazard gardening, and hiking with my dog Bowser. My son and I spend a lot of time participating in activities at our local synagogue, and that community is super important to me. I almost always feel better after a long walk in the woods, so that’s something I try to make time for no matter how busy everything else gets.