The Case for Diversity and Leadership
The Office Diversity and Leadership (ODL) was envisioned as an organizational structure that is essential for achieving the School of Medicine’s mission to be a premier research-intensive medical school that improves health through leadership and a collaborative approach to discovery and innovation in patient care, education and research. Grounded in the compelling evidence that diversity of thought and perspective provides richer solutions to the complex challenges of academic medicine, we recognized that achieving excellence in our mission requires an expansion of the diversity amongst our faculty, trainees and staff. The imperative for diversity amongst our trainees, faculty and staff is underscored by the fact that fifty percent of graduates of medicine and biological scientists are women, and a growing number are from racial and ethnic backgrounds that are underrepresented in academic medicine. These facts are occurring against a background of the changing demographic of our nation, such that by 2050 current minority groups will constitute the majority of the US population. Our ability to translate new discoveries so as to impact the health of all peoples will require that we recruit and retain trainees, faculty and staff that reflect the diversity in the populations whose health we hope to impact.
Diversity amongst our trainees is essential for developing a new generation of multi- and inter-disciplinary investigators and researcher teams. Aside from enhancing the educational quality and experience of all trainees, gender and ethnic diversity amongst our faculty will enable the realization of our educational goals by providing support for women and underrepresented students as role models and mentors; bring new kinds of scholarship to our institution; educate students on issues of growing importance to society; and offer links to communities not often connected to our institution. Importantly, diversity amongst our faculty and trainees will directly support our mission for innovation in clinical and translational research by broadening the pool of intellectual talent, enhancing our potential for innovative research and solutions, and expanding our research enterprise. Furthermore, a diverse group of faculty and trainees will more readily engage diverse communities in the translational process because they have specialized knowledge and skills around cultural competency, and a focus on community outreach and partnership.
Consonant with recommendations in the Institute of Medicine’s report (Diversity: In the Nation’s Compelling Interest), and supported by the results of Stanford university-wide and school of medicine self-studies, Dean Pizzo announced the creation of the Office Diversity and Leadership (ODL) in November 2004. He appointed Dr. Hannah Valantine, M.D, as senior associate dean to lead the institutional transformation in diversity and leadership needed to support our school’s mission. The ODL is charged with the responsibility for development, implementation and oversight of a bold, comprehensive, and systemic plan that will use leadership development as a foundation to expand faculty diversity and nurture faculty career development at the School of Medicine.
A major focus of the ODL plan is the implementation of new strategies to expand diversity in recruitment and retention of faculty and trainees who are currently underrepresented in academic medicine including racial/ethic minorities, women, peoples with disabilities and people of all sexual orientations. This involves close engagement of ODL with each faculty search committee to educate them on best practices for recruiting candidates from diverse backgrounds, and to provide them with the necessary tools for identifying candidates, particularly those with strong leadership skills; innovative programs for educating SoM faculty leaders in recruiting faculty from diverse backgrounds. Similar initiatives specifically tailored for recruitment of trainees from diverse backgrounds are also addressed in the ODL plan. Strategies for faculty retention, particularly of women and underrepresented minorities, are provided in the ODL plan, and focus on careful analysis of departmental data, with recommendations for holding department chairs accountable for progress/success and failure in this area. Retention is fostered systemically through small group mentoring and community building within leadership programs; and a variety of programs and awards for supporting faculty scholarship.
The major faculty development goals of the ODL plan are to build an internal faculty capacity for future professional and leadership opportunities; create a faculty body that understands and is capable of implementing the school’s strategic vision; create a culture of professional and leadership development that encourages and rewards the application of new skills among faculty, with particular focus on the ability to work collaboratively across organizational boundaries; address current leadership challenges; and aid in leadership transitions from faculty member to faculty leader.
In summary, the ODL multi-faced plan provides new strategies for expanding faculty and trainee diversity through the implementation of programs and policies for recruitment and retention. Using leadership as a lever for diversity, the ODL plan fosters and builds professional and leadership capabilities along the entire range of diverse medical school faculty as envisioned in the SoM’s strategic plan, Translating Discoveries. The ultimate ODL goal is to create an institutional culture that recognizes, values and rewards diversity and leadership as essential for achieving excellence in our tripartite mission of clinical care, research and education.
