Promotion and tenure of women and minorities on medical school faculties. The American College of Physicians.

T he moral and public health imperatives to increase the participation of women and minorities in medicine have been underscored in many recent reports and studies (l-7). An essential component of this process will be the number and visibility of women and minorities in leadership positions in academic medicine. By example and by design, leaders from these groups will influence institutional policies and ensure a continuing pipeline of minority and women physicians. Therefore, medical schools must continue efforts to promote qualified minorities and women to senior faculty positions. Rv “minnriti,~ ” \LIP S,-P r,=f,vrinn tn ,vri-l _r .=thmio L . . . . . “.zr.ru, I.” U&I ,ua.,s”Lsfi L” IUGaU. “L bL,,I,,c. gri’ps that are under-represented-that is, their percentage in the physician population is less than their percentage in the general population. Specifically, these groups are black Americans, native Americans, Mexican Americans, and mainland Puerto Ricans. In the last 10 years, whereas the number of women entering medical school has increased from 26% to 37% of the class (S), the number of entering minority stuA-n+.hz,c mmr..;..~,, In.., A “+,,A.. ,.t 007. l ,. “bLII.3 ,lLLJ ILlllcllllL” I”W 2iiu 3LGauy ar 7~7” L” :m (9). During the same period, the percentage of female faculty has risen from 15% to 20%, whereas the representation of minorities on faculties has remained virtually unchanged at 3% (IO). Generally, junior faculty from these groups have not advanced into seliior academic positions at the same rate as their white male colleagues, and at many points along the academic pathway women and minorities are more likely to leave the path leading to advancement. Many reasons have been proposed for the slower progress of minority and women faculty, including financial constraints, lack of knowledge about tenure and promotion procedures, heavier time commitments to teaching and patient care, discrimination, and lack of mentors or role models. However, systematic study of these issues has been limited, and many questions remain unanswered. This paper reviews the data on the status of women and minorities on medical school faculties and provides specific recommendations designed to increase faculty representation of women and minorities and to facilitate these groups’ ascent to more senior ranks. The definition of tenure varies from institution to