Affirmative Action in Schools of Public Health

Abstract

Efforts to address minority issues in the public health workforce have been hampered by the lack of precise information identifying the numbers and characteristics of those employed in that segment of the health care system called “public health.” There is a widespread conviction, however, that minorities are underrepresented in the field. In an effort to begin identification of those entering the field with graduate professional degrees, information from the nation's 24 accredited schools of public health is reviewed. The experience of the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health, one of the schools in mainland U.S. with a high percentage of minority students, is used as a case study to identify opportunities available and issues encountered in this setting. Barriers to more effective affirmative action efforts include lack of financial assistance for scholarships, lack of minority-faculty role models in many schools, and prevailing concerns that admission of minorities may lower academic standards. Rewards from such efforts include assisting minority students in launching successful professional careers and in helping reduce or eliminate the problems which contribute to gaps in minority health status and access in the U.S.