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Why This Matters

Disparities and inequities within the U.S. health system have existed for decades with poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancies well-documented among Black, Latinx, and Native American people. COVID-19 and the national discussion around racism has highlighted how structural factors contribute to health disparities. One factor that may contribute to health disparities is the underrepresentation of Black, Latinx, and Native American people in most health professions, particularly those requiring advanced education. While some schools, professions and states have made efforts to increase diversity in health professions, only limited progress has been made. ​

The Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity (GWMI) is committed to conducting research and policy analysis to promote greater equity in health care and society. The Health Workforce Diversity Tracker (Diversity Tracker) will monitor progress (or lack thereof) toward the goal of greater racial and ethnic parity in the health workforce through four major components: (1) the collection and analysis of data on the diversity of the health workforce with a focus on the educational pipeline; (2) dissemination of the data and findings, including “report cards” for states, professions, and institutions, publications, and interactive website; (3) support for research on the impact of interventions/strategies to increase diversity; and (4) advocacy through targeted distribution of the findings and convening of organizations and groups supportive of the goal of more racial and ethnic parity in the health workforce. The Diversity Tracker will cover the full range of health occupations, from front-line workers to physicians
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This tool will increase visibility around current deficiencies in racial and ethnic parity in health professions and educational programs. The tracking and dissemination activities are designed to encourage individual educational programs, states, health professions associations, and private philanthropy to take more aggressive actions to increase diversity in health professions and achieve greater equity. 

A key component of the Diversity Tracker is the “Diversity Index” which is the ratio of the percentage of graduates (or practitioners) in a health profession compared to the percentage of individuals in the population of that race/ethnicity. This index allows for comparison of performance across diverse states and professions as well as over time. ​