As an older field, public health looks good for its age in many ways. But as with physical health, looks don’t tell the whole story. We’re making progress, but we still have much to do to diversify our ranks among students, graduates and faculty. A diverse public health workforce is critical to facing today’s challenges, including racial and ethnic disparities in health.
In a 1999 article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Cheryl Healton, GPH’s current dean, examined racial and ethnic diversity among public health students and faculty at 28 schools of public health. Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans were disproportionately underrepresented, highlighting the need to increase minority faculty and train more underrepresented students, especially at the doctoral level.
A 20-year update to the 1999 article was recently published by a team from GPH (Goodman, Bather, and Healton) and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (Plepys and Kelliher). While the training ground has definitely expanded, the growth has been incremental in some regards -- despite the call for action and the potential that still exists.
The good
The transition of public health to an undergraduate field of study (not just graduate) can increase the diversity pipeline. In fact, undergrad programs are more diverse than grad programs, and undergrad public health students are more diverse than undergrad students overall. So the good news is that public health can be an attractive discipline for minority students.
The bad
Despite a variety of efforts to diversify students and faculty among ASPPH-member institutions, the 20-year increase in enrollment among each racial/ethnic group was less than five percentage points, and the increase in doctoral degrees granted was less than six percentage points (ASPPH Data Center).
The ugly
Although tenured faculty increased eight percentage points among Asians, the increase was less than three percentage points for Black, Hispanic, and Native American faculty. Diversity at senior faculty levels will take the greatest amount of time, but there’s still a gross underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities at the full professor level.
A call to action
How much has racial and ethnic diversity changed among students and faculty in public health? The short answer is “Not enough.” Solutions include training programs at minority-serving institutions, better recruitment, more diverse role models and mentors, and dedicating staff to ensure a student-centered approach.
Most importantly, those who mentor underrepresented students and junior faculty should be rewarded with additional time, resources, and compensation for their contribution to diversifying the public health workforce.
Melody Goodman, PhD
Associate Dean of Research;
Associate Professor of Biostatistics