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Psychiatry Diversity Leadership in Academic Medicine: Guidelines for Success

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted racial inequities in morbidity and mortality, as well as gender inequities resulting in productivity declines among women in academia. As a consequence, there is an urgent need for re-examination and commitment to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within psychiatry. DEI leadership roles in academic medicine are typically held by women and/or Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) with limited resources, such as lack of salary support, discretionary funds, and administrative backing. This lack of institutional support places more pressure on the very same people adversely affected by structural racism and sexism. A group of nine DEI leaders from seven of the top 10 psychiatry departments in the United States convened at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in May 2019. They discussed the challenges facing BIPOC women in DEI positions within psychiatry, leading to guidelines for improving the success of DEI efforts in psychiatry departments (Table 1). Departments are cautioned from rushing to quickly address long-standing and complex inequities by hastily creating DEI positions to simply check a box as having “done something,” particularly without providing administrative, structural, and financial support. Such an approach may set up new DEI leaders for failure and provide fodder later for claims that DEI efforts are not effective. Furthermore, the existence of DEI initiatives is not proof of equity and fairness; ongoing discrimination must continue to be addressed. Finally, DEI efforts should be integrated in the highest levels of decision making to ensure an active presence in any setting where real power is wielded.

Reference:

Jordan A et al. Am J Psychiatry 2021;178(3):224-8. Abstract

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