Faculty Diversity Trends in Academic Anesthesiology by Demographics in the United States, 1977-2021

This surveillance study sheds light on the demographic trends in academic anesthesiology and highlights the shifts that have taken place over 4 consecutive decades.

The data for academic anesthesiology faculty were self-reported and obtained from the annual Faculty Roster report of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) from 1977 to 2021. After determining the distribution of academic degrees, academic rank, chair position, and tenure status over time, the percentage composition for each category was calculated for 44 years. The temporal trends were depicted by plotting the counts and proportion changes. At the same time, the progress in terms of racial representation was illustrated by graphing the absolute changes in the percentage composition.

Despite an overall increase in absolute composition and percentage of women in academic anesthesiology from 20.8% to 35.7%, women remained underrepresented in academic degree attainment, senior academic ranks, and leadership positions. Faculty identifying as Black or African American increased from 1.3% to 4.3%, while Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish-origin faculty grew from 1.2% to 5.2%, representing modest growth in these underrepresented groups over the span of 4 decades.

Despite an increase in the count of women and underrepresented minority faculty within academic anesthesiology since the 1970s, the persistence of imbalances related to gender, ethnicity, and race was observed, in senior academic ranks and leadership roles.