Faculty Perspectives on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Building a Foundation for Pediatrics

Abstract

Abstract Pediatric departments and children’s hospitals (hereafter pediatric academic settings) increasingly promote the tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as guiding principles to shape the mission areas of clinical care, education, research, and advocacy. Integrating DEI across these domains has the potential to advance health equity and workforce diversity. Historically, initiatives toward DEI have been fragmented with efforts predominantly led by individual faculty or subgroups of faculty with little institutional investment or strategic guidance. In many instances, there is a lack of understanding or consensus regarding what constitutes DEI activities, who engages in DEI activities, how faculty feel about their engagement, and what is an appropriate level of support. Concerns also exist that DEI work falls disproportionately to racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine, exacerbating what is termed the minority tax. Despite these concerns, current literature lacks quantitative data characterizing such efforts and their potential impact on the minority tax. As pediatric academic settings invest in DEI programs and leadership roles, there is imperative to develop and use tools that can survey faculty perspectives, assess efforts, and align DEI efforts between academic faculty and health systems. Our exploratory assessment among academic pediatric faculty demonstrates that much of the DEI work in pediatric academic settings is done by a small number of individuals, predominantly Black faculty, with limited institutional support or recognition. Future efforts should focus on expanding participation among all groups and increasing institutional engagement.