Female and underrepresented minority faculty in academic departments of family medicine: Are women and minorities better off in family medicine?

Background: Several studies have shown that the percentage of women represe nted in senior academic positions at US medical schools is lower than the p ercentage of men in senior positions. Similarly, the percentage of minority faculty members represented in senior academic positions is lower than tha t of their majority counterparts. This study assessed whether these finding s were also present in departments of family medicine and identified anl fa ctors related to the institution or department that favored academic succes s for women and minorities. Methods: Data regarding faculty workforce compo sition, including faculty rank and rank for women and underrepresented mino rities, were extracted from a comprehensive survey of departments of family medicine at US allopathic medical schools. The data are based on faculty w orkforce in 1997 and include responses from 58 (51%) of all schools with a department of family. medicine. Results: Faculty iii departments of family medicine were more likely to be female (41% versus 25%) and an underreprese nted minority (9% versus 4%), compared with all academic medicine disciplin es. However women in full-time positions were less likely than men, and min orities were less likely than nonminorities, to be either an associate or f ull professor We could find no institutional or departmental characteristic s that were associated with academic success for women or minority faculty members. Conclusions: While women and underrepresented minorities are more common to the faculty workforce in family medicine, members of both of thes e groups are not well represented in senior faculty ranks.