The findings presented in this brief are based on a search of the peer-review and grey literature from 2010 to 2015. To set the stage for the findings, the UW HWRC compared the current racial and ethnic mix of the health workforce to the mix ten years prior using the American Community Survey.
The key findings are:
- The health workforce is more diverse than the U.S. population, and has increased in racial and
ethnic diversity over the last decade. - The trends in racial and ethnic diversity varies considerably by occupation, although minorities
tend to be more highly represented among the lower skilled occupations. - While various programs exist to increase racial and ethnic diversity of the health professions,
the evidence on the effectiveness of such programs and interventions is minimal in the peerreview literature from the last five years. - The majority of published articles are descriptive and present program models or theories on
how to design programs to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the health professions. - The fields of medicine and dentistry are most represented among the literature.
- The peer-reviewed and grey literature primarily focus on evaluating and assessing the following
program outcomes: increasing interest in health professions, increasing interest in and
applications to professional schools, and increasing enrollment. The focus is less on graduation
and career trajectories. - Promising practices supported by evidence in the literature to increase racial and ethnic
diversity across various levels of educational settings include: targeted recruitment and revised
admissions policies, curriculum changes, summer enrichment programs, and comprehensive
programs that integrate multiple intervention such as financial support, academic support, and
social support. - More and better evaluation is needed to assess the extent to which programs and interventions
contribute to long-term goals of diversifying the workforce.
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