Conference panels: do they reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce?
BMJ Lead
; 6(1): 57-59, 2022 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1769942
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The number of female and black, Asian and minor ethnicity (BAME) healthcare professionals has significantly increased over the last few decades. While this highlights the National Health Service (NHS) workforce as diverse and inclusive, most senior managers and conference panellists remain mainly men from Caucasian backgrounds.METHODS:
We reviewed all publicly available data for major Royal College conferences in the UK from 2015 to 2019 to examine how many of the panellists were men or women and how many were Caucasian or BAME.RESULTS:
Our first finding was that publicly available data were available for only 20 out of 70 conferences (29%). At 60% (n=12) of conferences, there were a predominance of male speakers. The median percentage of female speakers remained between 35% and 46%. There were no all-male panels. At 20% (n=4) of conferences in the sample, there were no BAME speakers. The median percentage of BAME speakers remained between 9% and 18%.CONCLUSION:
Conference panels do not yet reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce. We all have a duty to promote inclusivity and diversity in medicine. One way to do this is via conferences, through appropriate actions by conference organisers, panellists and delegates.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
State Medicine
/
Medicine
Type of study:
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Lead
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Leader-2020-000361
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