Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion Toolbox

Strategic Recommendations to Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Principles in the Pediatric Scientific Workforce

Domain: Support and Allyship 

Focus: Faculty Recruitment, Implicit Bias Training and Diversity Policies  

Author: Kecia N Carroll, MD

Editor: Jamie L Lohr, MD

On behalf of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Society for Pediatric Research

  

Background:  

Racial, ethnic and life experience/background diversity of pediatric faculty is lacking in academic medicine.  The proportion of faculty from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine and science (URM) decreases with increasing academic rank and in leadership positions. One illustration of this challenge is the decrease in proportion of women, including Black, Asian and White women with increasing academic rank and in leadership positions. Ensuring that faculty search committees are populated with members with expertise in inclusive searches and teaching these skills to faculty members are crucial steps in developing a diverse biomedical research workforce.

Challenges to creating a diverse work force include cognitive errors and shortcuts in the search process that adversely impact URM and women candidates. These include a lack of URM faculty leaders, a lack of inclusion of URM faculty or others with diverse life experiences and expertise on search committees; failure to develop a diverse candidate pool; and failure to implement strategies to recognize, address, and mitigate bias in the search process.

 

What Can National Organizations Do? 

1. Develop Best Practice Guidelines

2. Offer training in implicit bias, diversity, equity and inclusion and faculty recruitment at national and regional meetings

3. Employ inclusive standards and practices in their recruitment, elections, onboarding, and decision-making processes

 

What Can Institutions Do?  

Current Institutional Recommendations   

1. Develop toolkits, workshops, and training materials for the academic community to use to increase their knowledge, self-awareness, and skills in identifying and addressing bias. 
2. Constitute search committees with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to race/ethnicity, gender, sexual identify, family construct, academic discipline, and relevant expertise. 
3. Include at least one individual with expertise in inclusive searches/equity to assist in monitoring the search process. 
4. Require committee members to participate in implicit bias training and training in inclusive searches.  
5. Create search timelines and environments which will enhance the process. This includes:

1. • Adequate time for preparation and participation
   • Pre participation training
   • Administrative support for committee members
   • Avoid taxing members of URiM with unrewarded participation 

6. Establish ground rules and evaluation criteria that are aligned with the institution’s mission and DEI goals, including rubric, at the beginning of the search process 
7. Incorporate diversity statements into the application process so that candidates can delineate their contribution to mission critical areas 
8. Use objective tools and strategies to be applied at each step of the process- from developing and advertising the position to debriefing at the conclusion 

  

Aspirational Institutional Recommendations 

1. Consistently require evidence of excellence in DEI/ inclusion in candidate evaluations at a level on par with other mission critical areas (such as clinical care, education, research and innovation).  
2. Support and reward DEI service and roles in ways that foster scholarship and academic advancement and promotion 

   

What Can Individuals Do?

1. Pursue education and training in implicit bias in searches and other academic processes related to recruitment and academic promotion

• •  Increase knowledge and self-awareness regarding the many forms of cognitive error, bias and shortcuts and how they manifest in the search process
  •  Vigilantly and continuously work to identify and recognize bias and practice techniques to mitigate the impact of bias throughout the search process  
  •  Be committed to using strategies and processes to hold yourself and others accountable to recognize and address bias during each step of the decision-making process  

2. Be an active participant in creating and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce  

 

Key References: 

Moody JoAnn. Rising Above Cognitive Errors-Improving Searches, Evaluations and Decision-Making. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Revised 2010 Edition, December 1, 2015. ISBN-10 1519415702.

Harvard University, Office of the Senior Vice Provost. Faculty Development & Diversity. Best Practices for Conducting Faculty Searches.

https://faculty.harvard.edu/files/fdd/files/best_practices_for_conducting_faculty_searches_v1.2.pdf

Spector et al. Women in Pediatrics: Progress, Barriers, and Opportunities for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Pediatrics. 2019 Nov: 144:e20192149 https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/144/5/e20192149.long

Johnson et al. Implicit Bias Pediatric Academic Medicine. J Natl Med Assoc. 2017: 109 (3):156-163

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5710818/

Bhalla N. Strategies to improve equity in faculty hiring. Molecular Biology of the Cell.  2019: 30: 2744-2749.

Harris et. Al. Advancing holistic review for faculty recruitment and advancement. Academic Medicine. 2018: 93 (11): 1658-1662.

Diaz et. al. An institutional approach to fostering including and addressing racial bias: Implications for diversity in academic medicine. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 2019: 32 (1): 110-116

Smith et al. Now Hiring! Empirically Testing a Three-Step Intervention to Increase Faculty Gender Diversity in STEM. Bioscience. 2015 Nov 1; 65 (11): 1084-1087

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4777060/ 

Comprehensive references: Link to Faculty Recruitment and other

 

Link to Comprehensive References on Faculty Recruitment