Faculty diversity trends in physical medicine and rehabilitation by gender, race, and ethnicity in the United States, 1977-2021.

Abstract

Background: This study describes the gender and racial/ethnic trends in academic physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) and the shifts that have taken place in more than 4 decades.

Objective: To gauge the diversity in gender and race/ethnicity across academic degrees, academic ranks, chair positions, and tenure status in the academic workforce of PM&R.

Design: Surveillance study.

Setting and methods: The data for academic PM&R faculty were self-reported and obtained from the annual Faculty Roster report of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 1977 to 2021.

Main outcome measures: To compare the distribution of academic degree, rank, chair position, and tenure status over time, the percentage composition for each category was calculated for a period of 45 years. The temporal trends were depicted by plotting the counts and proportion changes, and the progress in terms of racial representation was illustrated by graphing the absolute changes in the percentage composition.

Results: Despite an overall increase in the representation of women, women remained underrepresented in the full professor rank in 2021, at only 32.1% of full professors. The instructor category was the only category in which the proportion of women faculty was higher in 2021 (62.8%) than in 1977 (58.5%). Asian faculty had the greatest increase in representation at all ranks, with the proportion of Asian full professors increasing from 1.8% to 11.4%, associate professors increasing from 7.4% to 14.4%, and assistant professors increasing from 11.2% to 20.2%. Women's representation as department chairs increased from 12.5% to 23.7% and Asians from 2.5% to 15.3%.

Conclusion: Overall, although there was an increase in the number of women and underrepresented minority faculty in academic PM&R over the study period, disparities based on gender and ethnicity/race persisted, particularly in higher academic ranks and leadership positions.