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Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Representation in Academic Psychiatry Chairs, 2012 to 2022
King T Fok1,2, Jessica J Wang1,3, Nhi-Ha Trinh4,5
1Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Summary
White men remain overrepresented as academic psychiatry chairs, while women and Asian individuals face persistent underrepresentation. This highlights the need for greater diversity in academic psychiatry leadership.
Area of Science:
- Medical Leadership
- Diversity in Academia
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Academic psychiatry leadership in the U.S. lacks gender and racial/ethnic diversity.
- Understanding representation trends is crucial for promoting equity in academic medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze gender and racial/ethnic representation trends among U.S. academic psychiatry department chairs.
- To compare leadership representation against faculty representation using the Leadership Parity Index (LPI).
Main Methods:
- Data from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Faculty Roster (2012-2022) were analyzed.
- Included 1722 psychiatry department chairs and 125,333 faculty.
- Leadership parity was assessed by gender and race/ethnicity using the LPI.
Main Results:
- White individuals, particularly men, were consistently overrepresented as department chairs (LPI 1.1-1.19 for White individuals, 1.79-1.96 for White men).
- Women across all racial/ethnic groups were underrepresented (LPI 0.24-0.58).
- Asian men and women showed significant underrepresentation (LPI 0.42-1.07 for men, 0.12-0.30 for women).
Conclusions:
- Academic psychiatry leadership remains disproportionately dominated by white men.
- Underrepresentation of women and Asian individuals in leadership positions persists.
- Efforts to promote parity in academic psychiatry leadership are essential.
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