Racial-ethnic diversity in allied health: the continuing challenge

Despite gains over the last few decades, the racial-ethnic diversity of health professionals has not kept pace with demographic changes in the general population of the United States, with significant consequences for the health of minority populations and access to health care services. We analyzed data for allied health educational programs accredited in 1989-90 and 2006-07, with particular attention to the race/ethnicity of enrollments, attrition, and graduates and the types of institutions that were more or less likely to have increased diversity over the time period. Our data show that blacks and Hispanics have higher attrition rates than whites and Asian or Pacific Islanders. In addition, federal institutions and for-profit institutions have higher rates of student racial/ethnic diversity, and both have become more diverse over time, although for-profit institutions have higher attrition rates than other types of institutions. Because minority students are more likely to attend for-profit institutions, the higher attrition rate at these institutions versus other types of institutions merits continued attention and additional study. At the same time, all institutions must direct resources toward increasing diversity and ensuring higher graduation rates among racial/ethnic minority students.