Rationale and Design of the Women and Inclusion in Academic Medicine Study.
Women of color (WOC) (African American, Hispanic, Native American/Alaskan Native, and Asian American) faculty remain disproportionately underrepresented among medical school faculty and especially at senior ranks compared with White female faculty. The barriers or facilitators to the career advancement of WOC are poorly understood. The Women and Inclusion in Academic Medicine (WIAM) study was developed to characterize individual, institutional and sociocultural factors that influence the entry, progression and persistence, and advancement of women faculty in academic medical careers with a focus on WOC.



Using a purposive sample of 13 academic medical institutions, we collected qualitative interview data from 21 WOC junior faculty and quantitative data from 3,127 (38.9% of 8,053 eligible women) respondents via an online survey. To gather institutional data, we used an online survey and conducted 23 key administrative informant interviews from the 13 institutions. Grounded theory methodology will be used to analyze qualitative data. Multivariable analysis including hierarchical linear modeling will be used to investigate outcomes, such as the inclusiveness of organizational gender climate and women faculty's intent to stay.



We describe the design, methods, rationale and limitations of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of women faculty in academic medicine with a focus on WOC. This study will enhance our understanding of challenges that face women, and, especially WOC, faculty in academic medicine and will provide solutions at both the individual and institutional levels.
Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership, Harvard Medical School.
Emorcia V
EV
Hill
Dana Farber Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Office, Boston, Massachusetts.
Michael
M
Wake
Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership, Harvard Medical School; Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
René
R
Carapinha
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health.
Sharon-Lise
SL
Normand
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School.
Robert E
RE
Wolf
Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, University of California Los Angeles.
Keith
K
Norris
Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership, Harvard Medical School; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health.
Joan Y
JY
Reede
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001213:Asian; D002322:Career Mobility; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010822:Physicians, Women; D012577:Schools, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce
Academic Medical Centers; Career Development; Diversity Inclusion; Minority Groups; Women