Increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the fields of nutrition and obesity: A roadmap to equity in academia

Samantha L Martin; Michelle I Cardel; Tiffany L Carson; James O Hill; Takara Stanley; Steven Grinspoon; Felicia Steger; Loneke T Blackman Carr; Maxine Ashby-Thompson; Delisha Stewart; Jamy Ard; Nutrition Obesity Research Center Taskforce to Advance the Careers of Researchers from Groups Underrepresented in Academia; Fatima Cody Stanford

doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.02.001

Increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the fields of nutrition and obesity: A roadmap to equity in academia

Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Apr;117(4):659-671. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.02.001. Epub 2023 Mar 10.

Authors

Collaborators

Nutrition Obesity Research Center Taskforce to Advance the Careers of Researchers from Groups Underrepresented in Academia:
Raziel Rojas-Rodriguez¹², Mabel Toribio¹³, Gabrielle Page-Wilson¹⁴, Ursula White¹⁵, Glenn Rowe¹⁶, Marine Saint-Cyr¹⁷, Rita Brookheart¹⁸, Lauren Adele Fowler¹⁹, Gwen Twillman²⁰, Felicia Price²⁰, April Stull²¹, Sonia Vega-Lopez²², Tony Comuzzie²³, Catherine M Kotz²⁴, Francoise Knox Kazimierczuk²⁵, Monica L Baskin²⁶, Robert Newton²⁷, Andrew Greenberg²⁸, Camile E Powe²⁹, Dympna Gallagher³⁰, David H Burk³¹, Elissa S Epel³², Paul S MacLean³³, Kimberly P Truesdale³⁴, Dominic N Reeds³⁵, Ellen A Schur³⁶, Nicole P Redmond³⁷, Minor L Cushion³⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama, USA; Center for Women's Reproductive Health University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Electronic address: jcvessel@uab.edu.
² Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine University of Florida Gainesville, Florida, USA; Center for Integrative Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA; WW International, Inc. New York, New York, USA.
³ Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior Moffitt Cancer Center Tampa, Florida, USA.
⁴ Nutrition Obesity Research Center University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Metabolism Unit Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard School Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Pediatric Endocrinology Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH) Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Metabolism Unit Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard School Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH) Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Prevention Wake Forest School of Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA.
⁷ Department of Nutrition University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁸ Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources University of Connecticut Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics Columbia University, New York Obesity Research Center New York, New York, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Nutrition University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Nutrition Research Institute Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA.
¹¹ Department of Epidemiology and Prevention Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
¹² Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹³ Department of Medicine, Metabolism Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹⁴ Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York.
¹⁵ Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
¹⁶ University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
¹⁷ University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.
¹⁸ Washington University School of Medicine, StSt. Louis, Missouri.
¹⁹ Department of Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Alabama Birmingham, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Birmingham, Alabama.
²⁰ American Society for Nutrition.
²¹ Department of Human Sciences and Design, Baylor University.
²² College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University.
²³ The Obesity Society.
²⁴ Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota.
²⁵ University of Cincinnati.
²⁶ Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
²⁷ Departments of Physical Activity and Ethnic Minority Health, Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
²⁸ Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
²⁹ Diabetes Unit, Endocrine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³⁰ Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
³¹ Department of Cell Biology, Cell Imaging and Cell Culture, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
³² Department of Human Genetics and Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³³ Departments of Medicine and Pathology, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.
³⁴ Department of Nutrition, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
³⁵ Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science Medical Director, Nutrition Support Service at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University at St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
³⁶ University of Washington Medicine Diabetes Institute, UW Nutrition and Obesity Research Center and Director, Seattle, Washington.
³⁷ Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
³⁸ Department of Community Health and Family Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
³⁹ Pediatric Endocrinology Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH) Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Prevention Wake Forest School of Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA.

Abstract

Research shows that a diverse faculty improves academic, clinical, and research outcomes in higher education. Despite that, persons in minority groups, usually categorized by race or ethnicity, are underrepresented in academia (URiA). The Nutrition Obesity Research Centers (NORCs), supported by the NIDDK, hosted workshops on five separate days in September and October 2020. NORCs convened these workshops to identify barriers and facilitators for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and provide specific recommendations to improve DEI within obesity and nutrition for individuals from URiA groups. Recognized experts on DEI presented each day, after which the NORCs conducted breakout sessions with key stakeholders who engage in nutrition and obesity research. The breakout session groups included early-career investigators, professional societies, and academic leadership. The consensus from the breakout sessions was that glaring inequities affect URiA in nutrition and obesity, particularly related to recruitment, retention, and advancement. Recommendations from the breakout sessions to improve DEI across the academe focused on six themes: (1) recruitment, (2) retention, (3) advancement, (4) intersectionality of multiple challenges (e.g., being Black and a woman), (5) funding agencies, and (6) implementation of strategies to address problems related to DEI.

Keywords: academic recruitment; and tenure; career development; diversity; equity; ethnicity; grant funding; inclusion; intersectionality; promotion; underrepresented in academia.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion*
Ethnicity
Faculty, Medical*
Humans
Minority Groups
Nutritional Sciences*
Obesity*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding