Ethnic Representation Research Articles

Microaggression within the patrol service – a barrier against ethnic representation?

ABSTRACT Despite a growing body of research on experiences of discrimination and racism within the police, literature showing how these experiences impact on ethnic representation remains scarce. In this article, I explore which forms of microaggression ethnic minority officers in Norway experience ‘behind the scenes’, from colleagues, and how these experiences affect ethnic representation in the patrol service. A crucial test of whether passive representation translates into active representation is whether police officers make use of their cultural and linguistic competence during police work. Fieldwork observations of and narratives from ethnic minority police officers show that minority officers, on their own initiative, make use of their cultural and linguistic skills in specific situations. Thus, experiences of microaggression impact the use of cultural and linguistic competence among minority officers in a less negative manner than expected.

Performative Act of the Subaltern: A Postcolonial Figure of Subaltern Resistance in Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi

This paper attempts to evaluate the resistance to the ethnic and gender subalternity portrayed by Mahasweta Devi in the story, Draupadi. Mahasweta Devi portrays a figure of resistance to the multilayered subalternity through the rejection of gender performative acts in both theatrical and non-theatrical contexts of subaltern. The story, Draupadi, challenges the conventional phallocentric representation of gender subalterns and colonial domination over marginalized ethnicity through the construction of the character, Dopdi Mejhen (or Draupadi), a young Santal widow, fighting for the socioeconomic freedom of her tribe, who radically stands naked exposing her blood spotted body against the oppressive colonizer after extreme physical oppression, to protest the patriarchal and colonial domination over her body and ethnic community. She is subaltern by her class, caste and gender; but liberates herself from subalternity through noncooperational resistance. This paper applies the theory of ‘subalternity’ of Ranajit Guha and Chakravorty Spivak to bring out the aspects of multilayered subalternity and intellectual location of the resistance; and the theory of ‘gender performativity’ of Judith Butler to evaluate the resistance of gender subalternity. This research proves that the conquering resistance to the colonial domination and subalternity is the result of the non-cooperative movement against dominant elitism, rejection of gender performative acts, radical stand against ethnic representation, existential tactic to disrupt the essential codes and dominant administrative colonial power.

Performative Act of the Subaltern: A Postcolonial Figure of Subaltern Resistance in Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi

This paper attempts to evaluate the resistance to the ethnic and gender subalternity portrayed by Mahasweta Devi in the story, Draupadi. Mahasweta Devi portrays a figure of resistance to the multilayered subalternity through the rejection of gender performative acts in both theatrical and non-theatrical contexts of subaltern. The story, Draupadi, challenges the conventional phallocentric representation of gender subalterns and colonial domination over marginalized ethnicity through the construction of the character, Dopdi Mejhen (or Draupadi), a young Santal widow, fighting for the socioeconomic freedom of her tribe, who radically stands naked exposing her blood spotted body against the oppressive colonizer after extreme physical oppression, to protest the patriarchal and colonial domination over her body and ethnic community. She is subaltern by her class, caste and gender; but liberates herself from subalternity through noncooperational resistance. This paper applies the theory of ‘subalternity’ of Ranajit Guha and Chakravorty Spivak to bring out the aspects of multilayered subalternity and intellectual location of the resistance; and the theory of ‘gender performativity’ of Judith Butler to evaluate the resistance of gender subalternity. This research proves that the conquering resistance to the colonial domination and subalternity is the result of the non-cooperative movement against dominant elitism, rejection of gender performative acts, radical stand against ethnic representation, existential tactic to disrupt the essential codes and dominant administrative colonial power.

34369 Could current skin typing systems in Dermatology contribute to data bias for the development of clinical digital technologies in the UK?

Introduction: The UK population is expected to grow to 84.5 million by 2061 with the percentage of ethnic minority groups expanding from 8% to 30% during this time. Our background research uncovered a lack of diversity in the images of skin conditions in educational resources and datasets for research. Dark skin comprises just 4.5% of images in medical textbooks. Methods: A literature review was conducted to determine current skin color typing systems used by clinicians in healthcare. Results: The principal skin color typing systems used in clinical practice is the Fitzpatrick scale, which categorizes skin from I-VI, extending from pale white skin to dark brown and black. The Taylor Hyperpigmentation scale refers to 15 colors but has been specifically developed as a reference point for pathological hyperpigmentation, therefore rarely used in clinical practice or research studies. A systematic review of machine learning systems used in dermatology revealed the images to develop the software are usually from a population of light skinned patients, raising concerns about bias. Multiple other reports demonstrate that research cohorts in dermatology lack full racial and ethnic representation. Additionally, there is no universal standardised language used when making in reference to skin colour or ethnicity. Conclusion: As artificial intelligence systems are essentially ‘trained’ on historical datasets it is important to establish inclusive categorization in dermatology terminology moving forwards. To ensure these remains relevant and beneficial to all, datasets need to be representative of the UK and global population.

Associations of Maternal Prenatal Stress and Depressive Symptoms With Childhood Neurobehavioral Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort of the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies: Fetal Growth Velocity as a Potential Mediator.

Maternal prenatal stress and mood symptoms are associated with risk for child psychopathology. Within the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Fetal Growth Studies (ECHO-FGS), a racially and ethnically diverse cohort, we studied associations between prenatal stress and depressive symptoms with child neurobehavior, and potential mediation by fetal growth velocity (FGV) in low-risk pregnancies. For 730 mother-child pairs, we had serial ultrasound measurements, self-reports of prenatal stress and depression, observations of child executive functions and motor skills from 4 to 8 years, and maternal reports of child psychiatric problems. We tested associations between prenatal stress and depressive symptoms with child neurobehavior in regression analyses, and associations with FGV in mixed effect models. Post hoc we tested severity of prenatal symptoms; FGV at 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles; and moderation by biological sex and by race and ethnicity. Prenatal stress and depressive symptoms were associated with child psychiatric problems, and prenatal depressive symptoms with decrements in executive functions and motor skills, especially in biological male children. Neither prenatal stress nor depressive symptoms were associated with FGV. In one of the largest cohorts with observed child outcomes, and the first with broad representation of race and ethnicity in the United States, we found that prenatal stress and depressive symptoms were associated with greater reports of child psychiatric symptoms. Only prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with observed decrements in cognitive abilities, most significantly in biological male children. Stress during low-risk pregnancies may be less detrimental than theorized. There was no mediation by FGV. These findings support the need to attend to even small changes in prenatal distress, as these may have long-lasting implications.

Liver cirrhosis in Roma patients from the perspective of the liver transplant centre

Summary: Introduction: Slovakia is a country with the highest prevalence of liver cirrhosis in the world and a country with the highest proportion of Roma ethnicity at the same time. However, there is only little evidence of Roma representation in national cohorts with cirrhosis. Aims: 1. To determine the prevalence of Roma ethnicity in our cirrhosis and liver transplant registers; to compare their 2. fundamental characteristics and 3. final results with patients from the majority population. Patients and methods: A retrospective study; we acquired data from 1. Cirrhosis registry RH7; 2. Liver transplant registry: a) patients listed active on the liver-transplant waiting list; b) patients underwent first LT. The first source – the cirrhosis registry RH7 (NCT 04767945; since 2014, RH7 has been listing consecutive patients admitted to hospital with liver cirrhosis). Up to 2021, the mode of the ethnicity determination was so-called “ascribed ethnicity”. The second source – the Liver transplant registry (since 2008); the mode of ethnicity determination was identical to the one of RH7. Apart from the ethnicity, the following points were recorded and analyzed in all patients: demographics, elementary cirrhosis-relevant clinical variables such as etiology and MELD score, as well as an elementary LT-relevant variables, such as waiting time and mortality. Results: We present the results on Roma ethnic group in three cohorts from two datasets, i.e. on 1,515 patients from RH7, on 464 waitlisted patients from LT registry and on 302 transplanted patients from LT registry, respectively. The representation of Roma ethnicity in these cohorts were 2%, 4%, and 4%, respectively. Significant differences in age and gender were detected in Roma cirrhotic patients: 46 vs. 55 years (P = 0.001) and female gender 25% vs. 39% (P = 0.042). Of the first time waitlisted candidates for LT, Roma patients were also significantly younger – 42.6 vs. 51.5 years; in addition, Romas had a less prevalent alcohol-associated etiology (ALD) and a more prevalent autoimmune etiology. Finally, Roma patients after first LT were younger – 40.2 vs. 51.6 years, again with lower etiology of ALD – 15% vs. 47% and more autoimmune etiology – 39% vs. 23%. The results of Romas from all cohorts in tertiary care were comparable. Conclusion: 1. the admission of Romas to a tertiary liver care is lower than expected, for unknown reasons; 2. the age of Romas entering tertiary care is approximately ten years lower; 3. the results of Romas in tertiary care is comparable to the majority population. Key words: liver cirrhosis – Roma ethnicity – tertiary liver care – waiting list – liver transplantation

Racial and ethnic representation in 17-hydroxyprogesterone caproate preterm birth prevention studies: a systematic review.

The US preterm birth rate varies dramatically by race and ethnicity yet the racial and ethnic representation within studies evaluating 17-hydroxprogesterone caproate (17-P) for preterm birth prevention is unknown. The objectives of our study were to 1) examine the racial and ethnic representation of participants in 17-P preterm birth prevention studies, 2) evaluate adherence to the NIH race and ethnicity reporting guidelines and 3) compare racial and ethnic representation in research studies to national preterm birth incidence. We systematically reviewed US studies published between January 2000 and December 2019. Study participant's race and ethnicity were reported using descriptive statistics then compared to US 2017//2018 preterm birth data using Pearson's chi-square. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria, 17 studies reported race, 11 studies reported ethnicity, and yet none of the studies followed the NIH criteria. Compared to 2017/2018 US preterm births, the proportion of black/African American study participants was significantly higher whereas the proportions of all other race categories were lower. More detailed reporting of race and ethnicity is needed in 17-P literature. Black women appear to be well represented while other racial and ethnic groups may be understudied.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Gastroenterology and Hepatology: A Survey of Where We Stand.

In the setting of increasing attention to representation in medicine, we aimed to assess current perspectives of racial and ethnic workforce diversity and health care disparities among gastroenterology (GI) and hepatology professionals in the United States. We developed and administered a 33-item electronic cross-sectional survey to members of 5 national GI and hepatology societies. Survey items were organized into thematic modules and solicited perspectives on racial and ethnic workforce diversity, health care disparities in GI and hepatology, and potential interventions to enhance workforce diversity and improve health equity. Of the 1,219 survey participants, 62.3% were male, 48.7% were non-Hispanic White, and 19.9% were from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine. The most frequently reported barriers to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in GI and hepatology were insufficient representation of underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups in the education and training pipeline (n = 431 [35.4%]), in professional leadership (n = 340 [27.9%]), and among practicing GI and hepatology professionals (n = 324 [26.6%]). Suggested interventions were to increase career mentorship opportunities (n = 545 [44.7%]), medical student opportunities (n = 520 [42.7%]), and program and professional society leadership roles for underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups (n = 473 [38.8%]). Our survey explored imperative and timely perspectives on racial and ethnic representation and health equity among professionals in GI and hepatology. The findings should inform future interventions to address workforce diversity and establish priorities toward improving health equity, ultimately serving as a springboard for professional societies, academic institutions, and other organizations that aim to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in our field.

Race, ethnicity, and gender representation in clinical case vignettes: a 20-year comparison between two institutions

BackgroundThe medical case vignette has long been used in medical student education and frequently includes demographic variables such as race, ethnicity and gender. However, inclusion of demographic variables without context may reinforce assumptions and biases. Yet, the absence of race, sexual orientation, and social determinants of health may reinforce a hidden curriculum that reflects cultural blindness. This replication study compared proportions of race, ethnicity, and gender with University of Minnesota (UMN) findings. This study sought to determine if there has been progress in the representation of demographic characteristics in case vignettes. Methods: University of North Carolina (UNC) case vignettes from 2015–2016 were analyzed and compared to UMN case vignettes from 1996–1998. Data included mentions of race, ethnicity, gender and social determinants of health. Results: In the 278 UNC vignettes, white race was noted in 19.7% of cases, black race was in 7.9% cases, and 76.6% of cases were unspecified. In the 983 UMN vignettes, white race was recorded in 2.85% cases, and black race in 0.41% cases. The institutions were significantly different in the proportion of their cases depicting race (0.20; 95% CI (0.15, 0.25)). Males were represented in the majority of vignettes. Discussion: Comparing case vignettes results from two medical schools suggests that reporting explicit demographic diversity was not significantly different. The findings illustrate that sex was the demographic characteristic consistently described, where males were over-represented. Based on these findings, greater cultural diversity as it intersects with social determinants of health is needed in medical student education.

Key barriers against racial and ethnic minority participation in U.S. clinical trials

<p class="abstract">Despite the United States’ (U.S.) longstanding history of promoting a melting pot nation of people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds all capable of achieving the American Dream, it is argued that the U.S. is failing to deliver high quality healthcare to all of its constituents equally. The widely seen health disparities of ethnic minority groups endure has extended into the parallel field of clinical research and clinical trials. There is a staggering gap between the percentage of White clinical trial participants compared to clinical trial participants of racially and ethnically diverse minority groups in U.S. clinical trials. Underrepresentation of minority groups in clinical trials dismisses opportunities to identify potential serious sub-group safety or efficacy signals, open doors to access life-saving treatments, and ultimately improve the standard of evidence-based medicine in the United States. Current literature on this issue frequently reiterates the following five key barriers underrepresented minority groups face against clinical trial participation: mistrust, lack of awareness and access, cultural and language barriers, investigator and provider bias, and financial burdens. A deeper dive into understanding each barrier will be critical in implementing changes with actions and in perspectives in order to address the issue of poor racial and ethnic representation in clinical trial populations.</p>

Disparity in female and Asian representation amongst cardiology journal editorial boards members: a call for empowerment.

While progress is evident in gender and ethnic representation in the workplace, this disparity remains prevalent in academic positions. We examined gender and Asian ethnic representation in editorial boards of cardiology journals. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using publicly available data on Cardiology and Cardiovascular medicine journals in the first quartile of the 2020 Scimago Journal & Country Rank indicator. The proportions of female and Asian editorial board members, associate editors and editors-in-chief were assessed. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on the journal's geographical origin, subspecialty and demographic of the editor-in-chief. Seventy-six cardiology journals, involving 8915 editorial board members, were included. Only 19.6% of editorial board members were female, 20.8% Asians and 4.0% Asian females. There were less female representation amongst editors-in-chief (9.9%) compared to associate editors (22.3%). European (18.1%) and North American-based journals (21.1%) had higher female representation compared to Asian-based journals (8.7%). There was lower Asian representation in European (18.1%) and North American-based journals (19.9%) compared to Asian-based journals (72.3%). Females were underrepresented in interventional (14.5%) journals, while Asians were underrepresented in general cardiology (18.3%) and heart failure (18.3%) journals. Journals led by female editors-in-chief had significantly higher female representation compared to male-led ones, while journals with Asian editors-in-chief had greater Asian representation compared to non-Asian led ones. This study highlights the female and Asian ethnic underrepresentation in academic roles in cardiology journal editorial boards. Further analysis is needed for other ethnicities, while the community pushes towards gender-balanced and ethnic diversity across editorial boards.

355 Responding to a call of action: An analysis of ethnic diversity within dermatology residency programs

Recent efforts have been made to increase diversity in healthcare within the United States (US). Among physician specialties, dermatology was identified as one of the least ethnically diverse among residents and practicing dermatologists. Numerous calls of actions to increase diversity among dermatologists have been published in the literature. To evaluate recent trends and the current state of ethnic diversity within dermatology, this study provides a ten-year analysis of ethnicity data from dermatology residents, compared to total graduate medical education (GME) residents. For the academic years of 2011-2021, the total number of GME and dermatology residents were recorded, as well as the residents’ self-reported ethnicity data. Data was obtained through analysis of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Data Resource Book. Ethnic groups were defined as White, Asian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Black, and Native American or Alaskan. Our results showed that from 2011-2021, 56.38% of dermatology residents were white, compared to 44.17% of GME residents overall. The representation of all other individual ethnicities was lower among dermatology residents when compared to GME residents. The gap between minority ethnicities in dermatology and other medical specialties continues to persist, with little improvement over the last ten years. Our study shows only a 1.4% improvement of the gap between ethnic minority dermatology residents and ethnic minority GME residents. Diversity among physicians has been shown to improve health outcomes, particularly for ethnic minority patients. Future studies and efforts should be directed towards increasing ethnic minority representation within the dermatology physician workforce.

Population, Ethnicity, Clientelism and Political Representation in the Federal Executive and Legislative Arm of Government: A Comparative Analysis

Purpose: Population, ethnicity, clientelism and political representation in the federal executive and legislative arms of government, a comparative analysis is a study of the evaluation of what the concepts are and the roles they play in the federal and legislative arms of government with the objective of using comparative analysis in assessing their impacts.
 Methodology: The qualitative methodology with descriptive and historical research designs was used to collect secondary sources of data.
 Findings: The findings showed that population, ethnicity, clientelism and political representation can either lead to stability or instability depending on how they are handled in the legislative and executive arms of government with the executive playing a more critical role. Political representation which is either elected or appointed if well handled in the optimum balancing of all vested interests will lead to stability in the executive and legislative systems of a federal government which will enable the society to make progress. This study found out that population, ethnicity, clientelism and political representation have tremendous positive or negative impacts on both federal executive and legislative arms of government as the population of a nation determines the size of its government and the level of infrastructural provisions; Geo-political and the king makers influences are also impactful.
 Recommendation: It is recommended that there should be mass participation of the citizens in governance in their demand for true representation in governance and the use of the ballot to act as checks and balances to vote out non-performing leadership.

Ethnic and gender trends at the annual British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) meeting: A review of BAUS programmes over a 13-year period (2009–2021)

Objective: In this paper, we wanted to review the annual British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) programme to analyse the female and ethnic minority (EM) representation and find out whether there is ethnic and gender disparity, and if it does reflect the reality of the workforce. Methods: To investigate gender and EM representation, we requested data for BAUS annual meetings over a 13-year period (2009–2021). All speakers and chairpersons for all four sub-sections including Endourology, Oncology, Andrology and Female, Neurological and Urodynamic urology (FNUU) were collated. We also looked at the geographic distribution of the speakers (London area, rest of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). Data were analysed separately before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (cut-off March 2020), as in the latter 2 years, the meeting was held virtually. Results: A total of 2569 speakers (range: 135–323 speakers/year) were included in our analysis and 2187 (85%) speakers were from the United Kingdom. Of the UK speakers, more than three-quarters (76.6%, n = 1676) were males and females of White ethnicity and (23.4%, n = 511) were EM. The vast majority of speakers throughout the years were males (86%, n = 1891) with only 14% ( n = 296) females regardless of their origin and ethnicity. The presence of EM females was only 1.9% ( n = 43). The percentage of female representation rose consistently over time from 6.7% ( n = 8) in 2009 to 21.1% ( n = 44) in 2020, suggesting an upward trend. Regional distribution showed 31%, 63%, 3.6%, 1.6% and 0.2% from London, Rest of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively. Both gender and EM representation doubled in the last 2 years during the pandemic ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: Annual BAUS meetings have seen a higher proportion of ethnic and gender representation in recent years. However, considering the workforce within urology, more needs to be done to address this historical disparity. Hopefully, the BAUS 10-point programme will provide a framework for addressing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issues related to this bias. Level of evidence: Not applicable.

We need to make sure telecommuting does not exacerbate gender disparity

We need to make sure telecommuting does not exacerbate gender disparity

Colors and Orientalism as associations: Exploring the semiotic (re)presentation of Saudi women in British and Saudi newspapers

AbstractMedia representations can have significant influence in shaping opinions and influence public response to certain communities or gender and ethnic representations around the world. Investigating semiotic representation in linguistic discourse as vehicles for meaning in culture has been a fruitful area of research over the past decades. This study explores how stereotypes of women feed into the representations of Saudi women in contemporary press in Britain and Saudi Arabia. The focus is on the newspaper genre. Data for this study have been gleaned from a particular set of British and Saudi newspapers. Using the Color Image Scale (CIS) as a research tool, this study yielded a number of findings, the main one of which is the discrepancy in Saudi women's representation in the journalistic discourse under study. In addition, variances in color choice and usage between the newspapers in the present study were apparent. The study provides an important opportunity to advance our understanding of Saudi women's representation in British versus Saudi newspapers. The present study also makes a major contribution to research on critical discourse analysis by demonstrating how power as well as orientalism impact Saudi women's representation. The findings of this study are important for scholars of gender, religion, media, and cultural diversity.

Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Representation Among Gastroenterologists: A Review of Recent Trends.

Diversity in medicine and the gastroenterology (GI) subspecialty is a topic warranting attention, especially in light of a number of recent incidents highlighting the persistence of racial, ethnic, and gender injustice in our nation. Insight into this topic is important insofar as the multitude of racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds comprising the national patient population should be reflected, to the degree possible, by the providers serving it. Inclusion becomes particularly imperative because the quality of health care and health research and bridging disparities may be closely linked to adequate representation among healthcare providers. Despite the urgency of this topic, there is a paucity of data examining trends in gender and racial/ethnic diversity among medical professionals within the field of GI. In this narrative review, we examine how ethnoracial and gender representation has changed over time at critical points along the educational, training, and career pathways in GI.

Gender, racial, and ethnic representation of cardiology fellows in the United States, 2014-2020: An underwhelming pace of diversification worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic

IntroductionCardiologists serve a diverse population of patients, yet the lack of diversity within the cardiology workforce has continued to persist and does not represent the composition of the patient population in the United States. Although medical schools and internal medicine residency programs have witnessed major improvements in diversity, the field of cardiology has not emulated these patterns. MethodsGender, race, and ethnicity data from the graduate medical education supplements published annually in the Journal of the American Medical Association from 2014 through 2020 were analyzed. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the recruitment of female trainees in cardiology was also investigated. Results and discussionWomen represented 24.6% of cardiology trainees in the year 2020, which is a minor increase from 21.2% in 2014. The percentage of Hispanic trainees has slightly decreased from 6.90% in 2014 to 6.26% in 2020, while the percentage of Black trainees has only increased from 5.45% in 2014 to 5.50% in 2020. The data demonstrate a clear disparity and a desperate need for diversification of the cardiology trainee workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate this lack of diversity in upcoming years due to the reemergence of inequities in social responsibilities between male and female trainees. ImplicationsStrong action must be taken on an institutional level to shift the culture in cardiology to one that is more appealing to women and underrepresented minorities in order to better serve an increasingly diverse population.

The Feminine State of Ethnicity: Changing Ethnic Representations in <i>Doctor Who</i>

This study aims to consider how science fiction television series Doctor Who (Sydney Newman, 1963-1989, 2005) has undergone changes in representations of ethnicity since 2005. The Doctor, who is a representation of immigrants from the very beginning, was embodied in white, heterosexual men until the 11th season. Last season is the first season since 1963 when a woman is the Doctor. In addition, this season, the Doctor's three companions are Ryan who is a black man, Yaz who is a Pakistani-British woman and Graham who is a middle-aged white man mourning his wife Grace who was black. In this study, it is aimed to analyze the features that make this season different from the others in terms of representations of ethnicity by using visual data analysis techniques and Smith's national identity theory. In this study, it has been proposed that the previous episodes of the Doctor Who television series were problematic in case of representations of ethnicity, and the ongoing representations of ethnicity are changing under the leadership of the female Doctor and his ethnically diverse companions during the era of Chris Chibnall and the episodes are examined using this framework.

Racial and ethnic distribution of US randomized controlled trials in obstetrics: a retrospective review.

To determine the racial and ethnic compositions of the participants in obstetric randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and compare them to the US general population. RCTs published in two premier US journals, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology from January 2010 to April 2020 were analyzed. The racial and ethnic distributions of the study participants were extracted and expressed as percentages for each article. Obstetrics articles were selected and then further divided into subcategories. Statistical analyses were performed on racial and ethnicity representation in each subcategory compared to a US population norm. Overall, a wide variation of racial and ethnic distribution was noted among studies. However, statistically significant overrepresentation of Non-Hispanic Black population and underrepresentation of White and Asian races were noted while Hispanic population's representation was comparable to the US general population. This observation was persistent across most of the subcategories. RCTs in the field of Obstetrics showed an overrepresentation of Black population. This observation was unique when we consider the previous reports in other fields of medicine. These findings should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results of RCTs conducted in US.