Exploring minority ethnic doctors' career transitions in medicine: a life course approach
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Management
Abstract
Medicine is, within the UK, one of the most ethnically diverse professions but despite this, evidence suggests that ethnic minority doctors still face more challenges to their career progression than their white counterparts. The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of how ethnic minority doctors (and would-be doctors or 'aspirants') manage their transitions through the distinct stages of a medical career (from A level student to Consultant). We are seeking to discover what barriers they face and what strategies contribute to successfully being able to progress from one stage of a medical career to the next. We intend to use this knowledge to improve the career support to ethnic minority doctors and to help to improve doctor retention in the NHS.
The NHS has long faced challenges with ensuring it has sufficient numbers of doctors. There are limited numbers of training places and doctors take many years to train and gain necessary experiences but there are issues of burnout and the number of doctors leaving the profession. In addition doctors are retiring earlier with the rate of early retirement of doctors tripling since 2008 (Moberley, 2021). These factors, combined with the impact of the pandemic on our health services, mean that the doctor shortage is likely to be exacerbated with fewer medics on hand to meet increased demand. Issues of retention and support for UK doctors are likely to increase in importance in the post-pandemic years
As ethnic minority doctors are a key cohort of this workforce, and a group that has traditionally have faced problems with progression, then it is urgent and appropriate for us to examine in some depth how ethnic minority doctors transition through their careers. We recognise that there is a great deal of diversity within the category of 'ethnic minority' hence project will also help us to better understand the specific role that is played by other demographic features in the career of ethnic minority doctors (or aspirants). We want to examine whether barriers and strategies for success are different for ethnic minority doctors from different minority ethnic groups (e.g. do Black doctors, who are fewer in number, face different barriers or use different strategies to Asian doctors who are better represented?); different nationalities (e.g. what are the specific challenges and strategies for doctors who trained overseas?); and different social class backgrounds (e.g. how does coming from a family with fewer financial resources influence the way you navigate a career in medicine?). We will also look in detail at the extent to which male and female ethnic minority doctors face different barriers and use different strategies to transition through the career stages.
We will examine the career transitions of early, mid and late career-stage doctors to deepen our understanding of the challenges faced and the strategies adopted to address those challenges are different career points. In addition, as within medicine, careerists often move through different career stages at similar ages, it will also provide us within insight into how different generations of ethnic minority professionals perceive the relevance of their ethnicity to their career transitions and whether the strategies they adopt differ. We will be able to reflect on whether changing narratives around ethnicity in society and the increasing importance placed on promoting diversity and inclusion has influenced the way in which different generations of medics reflect on career barriers and the strategies for progression.
The NHS has long faced challenges with ensuring it has sufficient numbers of doctors. There are limited numbers of training places and doctors take many years to train and gain necessary experiences but there are issues of burnout and the number of doctors leaving the profession. In addition doctors are retiring earlier with the rate of early retirement of doctors tripling since 2008 (Moberley, 2021). These factors, combined with the impact of the pandemic on our health services, mean that the doctor shortage is likely to be exacerbated with fewer medics on hand to meet increased demand. Issues of retention and support for UK doctors are likely to increase in importance in the post-pandemic years
As ethnic minority doctors are a key cohort of this workforce, and a group that has traditionally have faced problems with progression, then it is urgent and appropriate for us to examine in some depth how ethnic minority doctors transition through their careers. We recognise that there is a great deal of diversity within the category of 'ethnic minority' hence project will also help us to better understand the specific role that is played by other demographic features in the career of ethnic minority doctors (or aspirants). We want to examine whether barriers and strategies for success are different for ethnic minority doctors from different minority ethnic groups (e.g. do Black doctors, who are fewer in number, face different barriers or use different strategies to Asian doctors who are better represented?); different nationalities (e.g. what are the specific challenges and strategies for doctors who trained overseas?); and different social class backgrounds (e.g. how does coming from a family with fewer financial resources influence the way you navigate a career in medicine?). We will also look in detail at the extent to which male and female ethnic minority doctors face different barriers and use different strategies to transition through the career stages.
We will examine the career transitions of early, mid and late career-stage doctors to deepen our understanding of the challenges faced and the strategies adopted to address those challenges are different career points. In addition, as within medicine, careerists often move through different career stages at similar ages, it will also provide us within insight into how different generations of ethnic minority professionals perceive the relevance of their ethnicity to their career transitions and whether the strategies they adopt differ. We will be able to reflect on whether changing narratives around ethnicity in society and the increasing importance placed on promoting diversity and inclusion has influenced the way in which different generations of medics reflect on career barriers and the strategies for progression.
