Study Highlights the Preferential Promotion of White Men in Academic Medicine

Despite recent trends in the increase of women physicians and doctors from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups receiving entry-level appointments at medical schools, White men in academic medicine are significantly more likely to receive a promotion than doctors from other racial or gender groups, according to a new study led by the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

The authors drew from data from the Association of American Medical Colleges for all medical degree-granting schools from 1979 to 2019, cross-referenced with the association’s information on faculty appointments at medical schools since 2000.

After analyzing a sample of more than 673,000 medical school graduates, the authors found that Asian men, Asian women, Black women, and White women were more likely than White men to be appointed to an entry-level role in academic medicine. Yet, among doctors who graduated both before and after 2000, White men were more likely to be promoted to upper-level faculty ranks than members of nearly every other race or gender group.

Compared to White men, Black women had the lowest likelihood of receiving a promotion to associate and full professor. Most notably, among physicians who graduated prior to 2000, Black women were 55 percent less likely to be promoted to associate professor, and 41 percent less likely to be promoted to full professor than their White male peers.

Conversely, the study authors found that Black men were slightly more likely than White men to be promoted to a medical department chair. However, Black men were overall less likely than White men to enter academic medicine and less likely to be promoted to almost every academic rank leading to department chair.

“Racial and ethnic minority women experienced a twofold challenge of underpromotion compared with their male counterparts and White men,” write the authors. “These associations have not changed in recent years, and prior studies suggest that these differences persist even when adjusting for productivity, such as publications and grants. To achieve a workforce that reflects the diversity of the U.S. population, academic medicine must transform its culture and the practices that surround faculty appointments and promotions.”

The research team also included scholars from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

In Memoriam: Lonnie R. Snowden, 1947-2025

Dr. Snowden served as a professor of social welfare and public health policy at the University of California, Berkeley from 1978 until his passing in January. He was dedicated to advancing research on mental health services and eliminating racial disparities in healthcare.

Meta Sued for Discriminatory For-Profit College Marketing Targeted at Black Social Media Users

"This lawsuit aims to make it clear that no corporation — not even a Big Tech company as powerful as Meta—should be allowed to profit from the discriminatory treatment of Black students and consumers," said Damon T. Hewitt, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

In Memoriam: Jerry Washington Ward, Jr., 1943-2025

Dr. Ward taught English at Tougaloo College in Mississippi for over three decades. He then served a a distinguished professor at Dillard University in New Orleans for 10 years before his retirement in 2012.

The Education Department Takes Aim at Colleges’ Diversity and Inclusion Programs

The acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the United States Department of Education, warned colleges and universities that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to use race as a factor in a wide range of programs.

Featured Jobs