School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
BMJ Lead. 2022 Mar;6(1):57-59. doi: 10.1136/leader-2020-000361. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
The number of female and black, Asian and minor ethnicity (BAME) healthcare professionals has significantly increased over the last few decades. While this highlights the National Health Service (NHS) workforce as diverse and inclusive, most senior managers and conference panellists remain mainly men from Caucasian backgrounds.
We reviewed all publicly available data for major Royal College conferences in the UK from 2015 to 2019 to examine how many of the panellists were men or women and how many were Caucasian or BAME.
Our first finding was that publicly available data were available for only 20 out of 70 conferences (29%). At 60% (n=12) of conferences, there were a predominance of male speakers. The median percentage of female speakers remained between 35% and 46%. There were no all-male panels. At 20% (n=4) of conferences in the sample, there were no BAME speakers. The median percentage of BAME speakers remained between 9% and 18%.
Conference panels do not yet reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce. We all have a duty to promote inclusivity and diversity in medicine. One way to do this is via conferences, through appropriate actions by conference organisers, panellists and delegates.
在过去的几十年里，女性和黑人和亚洲及少数民族（BAME）医疗保健专业人员的数量显著增加。虽然这突显了国民保健制度（NHS）劳动力的多样性和包容性，但大多数高级管理人员和会议小组成员仍然主要是来自白种人背景的男性。
我们审查了英国所有皇家学院会议的所有公开数据，以检查小组成员中有多少是男性或女性，以及有多少是白种人或 BAME。
我们的第一个发现是，只有 70 个会议中的 20 个（29%）有公开数据。在 60%（n=12）的会议中，男性演讲者居多。女性演讲者的中位数百分比在 35%至 46%之间。没有全是男性的小组。在样本中 20%（n=4）的会议中，没有 BAME 演讲者。BAME 演讲者的中位数百分比在 9%至 18%之间。
会议小组尚未反映国民保健制度劳动力的多样性。我们都有责任促进医学领域的包容性和多样性。一种方法是通过会议，通过会议组织者、小组成员和代表采取适当的行动。
