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Conference panels: do they reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce?
Kethaki Prathivadi Bhayankaram1, Nuthana Prathivadi Bhayankaram2
1School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Insights
Conference panels lack diversity, with male and Caucasian speakers predominating despite a more diverse healthcare workforce. Action is needed to ensure medical conferences reflect the inclusivity of the National Health Service (NHS).
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Healthcare Workforce Diversity
Background:
- The National Health Service (NHS) workforce has become more diverse, with increased numbers of female and ethnic minority professionals.
- Despite workforce diversity, senior management and conference panels remain predominantly male and Caucasian.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the gender and ethnicity of speakers at major UK Royal College conferences.
- To compare the diversity of conference panels with the diversity of the NHS workforce.
Main Methods:
- Review of publicly available data from UK Royal College conferences between 2015 and 2019.
- Analysis of speaker demographics, specifically gender (male/female) and ethnicity (Caucasian/BAME).
Main Results:
- Publicly available data was limited, covering only 29% of major conferences.
- Male speakers predominated at 60% of conferences, with female speakers comprising 35-46%.
- Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) speakers were underrepresented, with 20% of conferences having no BAME speakers and a median representation of 9-18%.
Conclusions:
- Conference panels do not accurately represent the diversity of the current NHS workforce.
- Promoting inclusivity and diversity in medicine requires deliberate action from conference organizers, speakers, and attendees.
Background:
The number of female and black, Asian and minor ethnicity (BAME) healthcare professionals has significantly increased over the last few decades. While this highlights the National Health Service (NHS) workforce as diverse and inclusive, most senior managers and conference panellists remain mainly men from Caucasian backgrounds.
Methods:
We reviewed all publicly available data for major Royal College conferences in the UK from 2015 to 2019 to examine how many of the panellists were men or women and how many were Caucasian or BAME.
Results:
Our first finding was that publicly available data were available for only 20 out of 70 conferences (29%). At 60% (n=12) of conferences, there were a predominance of male speakers. The median percentage of female speakers remained between 35% and 46%. There were no all-male panels. At 20% (n=4) of conferences in the sample, there were no BAME speakers. The median percentage of BAME speakers remained between 9% and 18%.
Conclusion:
Conference panels do not yet reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce. We all have a duty to promote inclusivity and diversity in medicine. One way to do this is via conferences, through appropriate actions by conference organisers, panellists and delegates.
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