Diversifying academic medicine: One search committee at a time.

Despite increasing attention to lack of diversity among medical education faculty, those traditionally underrepresented in medicine remain so. In 2017, the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine approved a new policy to increase diversity in the faculty search process, which includes a mandatory 2-h workshop on best practices in search processes and implicit bias training. Workshop participants were 179 search committee members making up 55 committees from February 2017 to March 2020. Participants completed two separate social validity surveys, one immediately following the workshop and another following the close of their search, and rated various aspects of the workshop. Each search committee completed a Diversity Checklist (DCL) of various mandatory and best practices to be implemented during each search. Historical data on diversity of job applicants, interviewees, and hires over the 5-year period immediately preceding workshop implementation were compared with corresponding diversity data from the participant search committees for a 3-year period following implementation of the workshop. Social validity surveys indicated high ratings pertaining to the benefits of the workshop (means 3.82-4.39 out of 5). Implementation of practices outlined in the DCL were high (94% of mandatory and 87% of best practices). Chi-square analyses of diversity data before and after implementation revealed significant increases in overall diversity (both race and gender) of applicants (p < 0.001), interviewees (p = 0.002), and those offered a position (p = 0.002), in the time period following implementation. Follow-up comparisons found greater increases for gender relative to race/ethnicity.

Creating Inclusive and Equitable Cultural Practices by Linking Leadership to Systemic Change.

From a global pandemic to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and others in the Black community, the year 2020 has cast light on long-standing social injustices. With this has come a critical social movement and a call for change-specifically, a call for transformative solutions that address not only new challenges but also centuries of systemic issues, such as systemic oppression and systemic racism. Leadership across the globe has scrambled to answer the call, some issuing statements committed to change, others engaging in necessary action. What is critical, however, is that leadership understands the cultural factors that have given rise to centuries of oppressive practices, and that leaders are held accountable for the commitments they have expressed. Leadership must promote, create, and maintain prosocial, inclusive, and healthy work environments. This requires new cultural practices and a focused organizational model. Equally important is the need to resolve ambiguity and communicate effectively, with strategic consideration of constituent perspectives and needs. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to discuss the contribution of behavior analysis to addressing systemic oppression, as well as the pivotal role leadership communication plays in occasioning social change. It is our hope that this conceptual work will inspire behavior scientists to advance the field of behavior analysis and social movements in the direction of equitable, prosocial change that dismantles systemic oppression.