Equity, diversity and inclusion of pediatric clinician-scientists in Canada: a thematic analysis

Underrepresented voices and perspectives are missing from academic and clinical health sciences. We aimed to define the unique opportunities and challenges of pediatric clinician-scientists related to equity, diversity and inclusion; and to identify key components of training needed to support people from equity-seeking groups as emerging and early-career pediatric clinician-scientists to generate diverse health research leaders in knowledge generation, implementation and translation.

Using a qualitative descriptive approach, we examined the experiences of clinician stakeholders. Semistructured interviews were conducted with pediatric clinician-scientist stakeholders. Thematic analysis was performed.

We interviewed a total of 39 individuals. Our analysis resulted in 4 interrelated themes: the pervasiveness and invisibility of sexism; the invisibility and visibility of racism; proposed individual-level solutions to the sexism and racism; and proposed institutional and system-level changes to address the porous and leaky pipeline. These themes acknowledged that, ultimately, system change is required for addressing equity, diversity and inclusion in clinical and academic training environments.

These findings highlight the importance of addressing systemic biases that limit the inclusion of women and racialized individuals in pediatric clinician-scientist careers. Further research is needed to explore the problem of exclusion, which will, in turn, inform education of pediatric clinician-scientists and inform better ways to promote equity, diversity and inclusivity; these steps are needed to foster systemic change in the cultures that perpetuate exclusivity in both academic and clinical communities.