Trends in Faculty Tenure Status and Diversity in Academic Radiology Departments in the United States.

Abstract

Background: Faculty tenure at U.S. medical schools has become less commonplace over the last several decades.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the long-term trends in tenure status, according to gender and underrepresented in medicine (URiM) status for academic radiology faculty in US medical schools.

Materials and methods: The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Faculty Roster was used to study the number and proportions of academic radiology faculty (including radiologists and radiation oncologists) from 2000 to 2023 by tenure status stratified by gender and underrepresented in medicine (URiM) status. Simple linear regression was used for statistical comparisons.

Results: The total number of academic radiology faculty increased from 5411 in 2000 to 10,597 in 2023. The proportion of non-URiM men decreased (from 73% to 65%), largely replaced by non-URiM women (from 21% to 27%), URiM men (3.7% to 4.4%), and URiM women (1.9% to 3%). The proportion of tenure-line (both tenured and on tenure track) radiology faculty members decreased across all groups, from 40% to 20% of total, an approximate 1%-point per year on average. Representation of women among tenure-line faculty increased (17% to 23% in 2023), but URiM representation remained stagnant (4.6% to 4.8% in 2023). When ranked by representation of female and URiM faculty among total tenured faculty, radiology placed 16th (of 18) for female representation (above surgery and orthopedics), and 18th (last) for URiM representation.

Conclusion: Since 2000, academic radiology faculty nationally has enlarged with increased representation of women but remains dominated by non-underrepresented men (65%). Underrepresented groups have increased only marginally. Tenure-line faculty positions decreased across all groups. Similar to other clinical departments, women and underrepresented groups in radiology had a lower proportion of tenure-line faculty than non-underrepresented men.

Clinical relevance statement: Since 2000, gender and racial/ethnic diversity in academic radiology has improved only marginally, particularly for tenure-line faculty. Increases in non-tenure positions nationwide likely represent an overall shift in academic practice prioritization of clinical over educational and research missions.