Differential Attainment in Career Progression for Doctors in the UK

Abstract

Differential attainment in career progression in the NHS is a complex issue with many interplaying factors apart from individual protected characteristics. In this paper, we examine the attainment gap, causes for these disparities and some recommendations to reduce the gap. Our review shows that there is significant DA between groups of doctors on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race and country of primary medical qualification. The likely causes are bias, lack of opportunity, poor supervision, mentorship, sponsorship, dichotomous treatment of doctors based on training or non-training status and cultural exclusion. Data is not monitored or reported and there is little organisational accountability. Solutions are likely to include transparent data on recruitment as well as progression for benchmarking, training support for all doctors, initiatives which are sensitive to gender, parental responsibility, cultural heritage, language and robust supervision including mentorship and sponsorship. This scoping review forms part of the Alliance for Equality in Healthcare Professions project on Differential Attainment chaired by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and will be integrated into the Bridging the Gap project undertaken by BAPIO Institute for Health Research (BIHR). This work is part of six domains of doctors' careers in the NHS.