Accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion goals: a qualitative assessment from the lens of scientists at the 2020 Clinical Translational Science Awards Annual Meeting

Claudia S P Fernandez; Monica M Taylor; Gaurav Dave; Kathleen Brandert; Katherine Mollenkopf; Suzanna Larkin; Giselle Corbie

doi:10.1017/cts.2022.516

Accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion goals: a qualitative assessment from the lens of scientists at the 2020 Clinical Translational Science Awards Annual Meeting

J Clin Transl Sci. 2022 Dec 7;7(1):e35. doi: 10.1017/cts.2022.516. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Claudia S P Fernandez¹, Monica M Taylor², Gaurav Dave^{2

3

4}, Kathleen Brandert⁵, Katherine Mollenkopf¹, Suzanna Larkin¹, Giselle Corbie^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
² Center for Health Equity Research, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
³ Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁴ Abacus Evaluation, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁵ College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.

Abstract

Participants in the leadership breakout session at the Clinical Translational Science Awards (CTSA) virtual 2020 conference discussed and ranked six recommendations in terms of feasibility, impact, and priority for advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts to elevate underrepresented populations to leadership positions in CTSAs and their broader institutions. A thematic analysis of chat and polling data identified challenges and opportunities to achieve DEI goals, with the three most promising recommendations as: cross-institutional Principal Investigator (P.I.) action-learning workgroups, transparent policies for recruiting and promoting underrepresented minorities (URM) leadership, and a clear succession plan to nurture and elevate URM leaders. Suggestions are made to improve DEI in CTSA leadership and allow for greater representation in the translational science field.

Keywords: Evaluation metrics; institutional culture; racism; structural change; underrepresented minorities.