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Cited by 163Diversity and Career in MedicineCareer Development and DiversityMentoring and Academic Development

Minority Faculty Voices on Diversity in Academic Medicine: Perspectives From One School

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Mahoney, Megan R., Wilson, Elisabeth, Odom, Kara L., Flowers, Loma, Adler, Shelley R.·2008·Academic Medicine
DOI 10.1097/acm.0b013e31817ec002PMC PMC2868964
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Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the perceptions and experiences of ethnic minority faculty at University of California-San Francisco regarding racial and ethnic diversity in academic medicine, in light of a constitutional measure outlawing race- and gender-based affirmative action programs by public universities in California. METHOD: In 2005, underrepresented minority faculty in the School of Medicine at University of California-San Francisco were individually interviewed to explore three topics: participants' experiences as minorities, perspectives on diversity and discrimination in academic medicine, and recommendations for improvement. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subsequently coded using principles of qualitative, text-based analysis in a four-stage review process. RESULTS: Thirty-six minority faculty (15 assistant professors, 11 associate professors, and 10 full professors) participated, representing diversity across specialties, faculty rank, gender, and race/ethnicity. Seventeen were African American, 16 were Latino, and 3 were Asian. Twenty participants were women. Investigators identified four major themes: (1) choosing to participate in diversity-related activities, driven by personal commitment and institutional pressure, (2) the gap between intention and implementation of institutional efforts to increase diversity, (3) detecting and reacting to discrimination, and (4) a need for a multifaceted approach to mentorship, given few available minority mentors. CONCLUSIONS: Minority faculty are an excellent resource for identifying strategies to improve diversity in academic medicine. Participants emphasized the strong association between effective mentorship and career satisfaction, and many delineated unique mentoring needs of minority faculty that persist throughout academic ranks. Findings have direct application to future institutional policies in recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority faculty.

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  • The importance of mentorship combined with the difficulty URM and women have in obtaining suitable mentors implies that pipeline programs might benefit from incorporating willing faculty from all racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds to serve as mentors for URM students.

    “The importance of mentorship combined with the difficulty URM and women have in obtaining suitable mentors,25 implies that pipeline programs might benefit from incorporating willing faculty from all racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds to serve as mentors for URM students.27”

    From Dreams Realized: A Long-Term Program Evaluation of Three Summer Diversity Pipeline Programs (2021) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Results section (‘Mentorship: Significant needs and limited choices’; page unavailable) says all mentors can help minority faculty and describes a shortage of suitable minority mentors. The paper does not assess whether pipeline programs benefit from recruiting faculty of all racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds to mentor URM students; that is the citing authors’ inference from findings about faculty. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • URM faculty members are often tasked with many roles beyond mentoring of URM students and trainees, colloquially called the "minority tax."

    “They are often tasked with many roles beyond mentoring of URM students and trainees, colloquially called the “minority tax.”25,26”

    From Dreams Realized: A Long-Term Program Evaluation of Three Summer Diversity Pipeline Programs (2021) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Results section, “Diversity-related activities: Personal commitment and institutional pressure” (page unavailable), describes minority faculty being pressed into diversity committees and outreach beyond mentoring, sometimes to the point of overextension. The paper does not call those additional roles the “minority tax”; its Discussion uses “black tax” for the distinct burden of responding to discrimination. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 26

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Authors
Mahoney, M. R., Wilson, E., Odom, K. L., Flowers, L., & Adler, S. R.
Affiliations
University of California, San Francisco (US)
Corresponding author
Mahoney, Megan R.
ORCID
Venue
Academic Medicine
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2008-08
Volume
83
Issue
8
Pages
781-786
ISSN
1040-2446 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/acm.0b013e31817ec002
PMC
PMC2868964
OpenAlex
W2128019460
Cited by
163
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
FWCI
4.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Academic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (L60 MD002663)
  • School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mentoring and Academic Development
Keywords
underrepresented minority faculty, racial and ethnic diversity, affirmative action, health care discrimination, mentoring, faculty recruitment and retention, teacher perceptions, career satisfaction
MeSH terms
Asian, Black or African American, California, Cross-Sectional Studies, Discrimination, Psychological, Education, Medical, Faculty, Medical, Female, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Minority Groups, Schools, Medical, Women's Rights, Cultural Diversity

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