The Role of Sponsorship in Achieving Workforce Diversity in Academic Pediatrics.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: URM — : underrepresented minority Despite large-scale initiatives to promote workforce diversity in academic medicine, results have been disheartening, with marginal improvements in some areas and clear regression in others.1 Although the proportion of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in US academic medical centers has remained essentially flat over the last 2 decades (7% vs 8%), the number of African American men in medical school is currently lower than it was in 1978.2,3 These data unquestionably reveal that workforce diversity in medicine is not only stagnating but failing to keep pace with population trends toward a majority minority country.1 In “Factors That Influence the Choice of Academic Pediatrics by Underrepresented Minorities” in this issue of Pediatrics , Dixon et al4 explore, through focus groups and interviews, the experiences of URM academic faculty in their professional identities. The authors identified 7 themes that framed being a URM in academic pediatrics. These themes collectively overlap with a group of factors colloquially termed the “minority tax,” defined as the burden of extra responsibilities placed on minority faculty to achieve diversity.5 The responsibilities representative of the minority tax manifest in numerous areas of academic life. URMs may be disproportionately charged to lead institutional diversity initiatives. These commitments rarely come with time allocation or resources and leave less time for scholarly productivity … Address correspondence to Jean L. Raphael, MD, MPH, Texas Children’s Hospital, 6701 Fannin St, Suite D.1540.00, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: raphael{at}bcm.edu