profession
More diversity needed among medical school deans, study says
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 27, 2010
As U.S. medical schools work to increase diversity among their students, a new study suggests similar efforts should be made in school administration.
Deans at the nation's elite medical schools come disproportionately from highly educated parents and privileged socioeconomic backgrounds, according to a survey of 34 deans from schools top-ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
Compared with the overall population, deans' fathers were five times more likely and their mothers 11 times more likely to have completed at least an undergraduate degree. The findings support the argument for hiring more deans raised in poverty or working-class families, said the study in the December issue of Academic Medicine.
"Given the control deans exercise over medical school operations and the influence they yield beyond the academy, reformers understandably want greater demographic diversity among these administrators," said the study (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/12/27/prbf1227.htm.
