TY - JOUR
T1 - End of Affirmative Action—Who Is Impacted Most? Analysis of Race and Sex Among US Internal Medicine Faculty
AU - Xu, Rui Yang
AU - Sood, Nilita
AU - Ding, Jeffrey
AU - Khan, Nadia
AU - Tiwana, Sabeen
AU - Siddiqi, Javed
AU - Rehman, Ateeq
AU - Jamshed, Namirah
AU - Khosa, Faisal
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background: For over 50 years, the United States (US) used affirmative action as one strategy to increase diversity in higher education including medical programs, citing benefits including training future public and private sector leaders. However, the recent US Supreme Court ending affirmative action in college admissions threatens advancements in the diversity of medical college faculty. Objective: Our study evaluated the demographic trends in Internal Medicine (IM) faculty in the US by assessing sex and race/ethnicity diversity to investigate who is likely to be impacted most with the end of affirmative action. Design: Longitudinal retrospective analysis Subjects: IM faculty from the Association of American Medical Colleges faculty roster from 1966 to 2021 who self-reported sex and ethnicity Main Outcomes: The primary study measurement was the annual proportion of women and racial/ethnic groups among IM faculty based on academic rank and department chairs. Results: Although racial/ethnic diversity increased throughout the era of affirmative action, African American, Hispanic, and American Indian populations remain underrepresented. White physicians occupied > 50% of faculty positions across academic ranks and department chairs. Among the non-White professors, Asian faculty had the most significant increase in proportion from 1966 to 2021 (0.6 to 16.6%). The percentage of women increased in the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor by 19.5%, 27.8%, 25.6%, and 26.9%, respectively. However, the proportion of women and racial/ethnic minority faculty decreased as academic rank increased. Conclusion: Despite an increase in the representation of women and racial/ethnic minority IM faculty, there continues to be a predominance of White and men physicians in higher academic ranks. With the end of affirmative action, this trend has the danger of being perpetuated, resulting in decreasing diversity among IM faculty, potentially impacting patient access and health outcomes.
AB - Background: For over 50 years, the United States (US) used affirmative action as one strategy to increase diversity in higher education including medical programs, citing benefits including training future public and private sector leaders. However, the recent US Supreme Court ending affirmative action in college admissions threatens advancements in the diversity of medical college faculty. Objective: Our study evaluated the demographic trends in Internal Medicine (IM) faculty in the US by assessing sex and race/ethnicity diversity to investigate who is likely to be impacted most with the end of affirmative action. Design: Longitudinal retrospective analysis Subjects: IM faculty from the Association of American Medical Colleges faculty roster from 1966 to 2021 who self-reported sex and ethnicity Main Outcomes: The primary study measurement was the annual proportion of women and racial/ethnic groups among IM faculty based on academic rank and department chairs. Results: Although racial/ethnic diversity increased throughout the era of affirmative action, African American, Hispanic, and American Indian populations remain underrepresented. White physicians occupied > 50% of faculty positions across academic ranks and department chairs. Among the non-White professors, Asian faculty had the most significant increase in proportion from 1966 to 2021 (0.6 to 16.6%). The percentage of women increased in the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor by 19.5%, 27.8%, 25.6%, and 26.9%, respectively. However, the proportion of women and racial/ethnic minority faculty decreased as academic rank increased. Conclusion: Despite an increase in the representation of women and racial/ethnic minority IM faculty, there continues to be a predominance of White and men physicians in higher academic ranks. With the end of affirmative action, this trend has the danger of being perpetuated, resulting in decreasing diversity among IM faculty, potentially impacting patient access and health outcomes.
KW - affirmative action
KW - diversity
KW - equity
KW - internal Medicine
KW - patient outcomes
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U2 - 10.1007/s11606-023-08554-0
DO - 10.1007/s11606-023-08554-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 38100008
AN - SCOPUS:85179675065
SN - 0884-8734
JO - Journal of general internal medicine
JF - Journal of general internal medicine
ER -