Diversity in Healthcare: Where We Are at in the US

David Peterka

Published:

Last Updated:

Diversity in Healthcare: Where We Are at in the US

The healthcare sector is the largest employer in the United States. In 2023, over 17 million people(*) were employed in this industry, making it one of the best cross-sections of society we could hope to see. With so many employees, one might expect a fair reflection of diversity.

Yet, as we see in many other industries, this is untrue. The demographics of American healthcare professionals do not match with their patients. With research only recently beginning to investigate many of the medical differences between different races, genders, and other demographics, it may be some time before mainstream medical practices catch up.

In the meantime, we need to ensure that minorities have a place in the healthcare industry so they can advocate for patient care and champion the fight against health disparities. Every patient is entitled to receive the best level of care available, and unfortunately, this can only be done with the support of a diverse workforce.

What is diversity in healthcare?

Diversity in healthcare is a blanket phrase that can be used to talk about several topics. For example, it might be used to discuss the differences in care that Black or Asian patients receive compared to white ones.

For the purposes of this article, we wish to define diversity in healthcare as being the recruitment of marginalized healthcare providers. While aspects of care are incredibly important and are conversations that must be facilitated by the healthcare industry, we wish to focus the scope of our discussion on the experts and professionals who deliver treatment and care.

Why do we need diversity in healthcare?

PatientPoint’s 2024 Patient Confidence Index revealed that 54% of survey participants are anxious about visiting the doctor. However, the same report revealed that 81% of patients trust their doctor, with 66% also feeling heard and respected.

To improve trust and respect further, the public needs to walk into their doctor’s office and feel represented. Having a healthcare workforce that reflects the community they serve will help to reduce health disparities and patient mistrust. But this is just the beginning. Unfortunately, we can never expect to staff a medical facility as a perfect reflection of the demographics in the community around them.

diversity in healthcare blog 3

Cultural competency must also be prioritized alongside the promotion of diversity to ensure that every patient feels safe in the presence of healthcare professionals, regardless of both parties’ race, gender identity, or ethnicity.

Systematic misbelief and healthcare

Even here in the 21st century, there are still deeply rooted but incorrect beliefs circulating in the medical industry. The perfect example here can be found in pain assessment.

There are still racist and discriminatory beliefs that claim Black people are physiologically different from others. One of the most prevailing claims is that Black people have thicker skin than white people. A 2016 study even found that 40% of first- and second-year medical students thought that this falsehood was actually true.

Such a way of thinking leads to many poor outcomes, including healthcare workers not believing Black patients when they say they are in pain. Historically, health workers have rated the pain of Black people to be lower than that of white people. This then leads to a knock-on effect where treatment recommendations are inadequate, if they are made at all.

We see a similar narrative playing out in women’s healthcare, where medical misogyny means that women are often dismissed when experiencing pain. This becomes even more of an issue for Black women, who are frequently dismissed and left undiagnosed with painful conditions like endometriosis(*).

While these are issues of care, they are being upheld by poor beliefs stemming from a lack of diversity in healthcare teams. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for addressing health disparities of this nature. Adequate training has to be given to improve health outcomes and ensure everyone gets the level of care they need. Cultural competency training must be a given at every level of care so that understanding of patients’ needs is not propped up any further by these outdated, systematic, and bigoted ways of thinking.

What are the demographics of healthcare professionals?

To better understand how we can improve cultural diversity in healthcare, we must first ask ourselves what the current landscape looks like.

percent of employed people 16 years and older in the 25 largest healthcare occupations by race 2022
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

In most healthcare occupations, white people outnumber people from other racial groups. In some professions, such as speech-language pathologists as shown above, other races form a very small minority compared to their white colleagues.

Let’s break this down further by looking at the demographics specifically in nursing. This is the largest subsection of the industry by far, with over 4 million in the total nursing workforce in 2023.

Nursing Workforce by Race/Ethnicity

Nurse TypeHispanicWhite (Non-Hispanic)Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)Asian (Non-Hispanic)Other or Multiple Races (Non-Hispanic)
Nursing Workforce9.2%65.0%13.8%8.5%3.6%
Registered Nurses (including Clinical Nurse Specialists)8.6%66.8%11.7%9.3%3.6%
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses13.1%51.8%26.2%5.2%3.7%
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses6.4%76.3%7.4%6.5%3.4%
US Population18.6%58.9%12.1%5.7%4.7%
Source: HRSA State of the U.S. Health Care Workforce, 2024 report

Nursing Workforce by Gender

Nurse TypeMaleFemale
Nursing Workforce12.3%87.7%
Registered Nurses (including Clinical Nurse Specialists)12.1%87.9%
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses12.0%88.0%
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses15.8%84.2%
US Population49.6%50.4%
Source: HRSA State of the U.S. Health Care Workforce, 2024 report

While nurses work in a variety of positions in the American healthcare system, from education to administration to patient-facing care, it is clear from the stats that the vast majority are white. Though white people are still the majority of the US population, they are over-represented in the healthcare industry. When a person of color meets with a nurse as part of their care, there is a greater chance that the nurse might not share their racial or ethnic background. Cultural awareness and competency training must be provided to ensure that implicit or unconscious bias is not allowed to have an impact on the level of care they receive.

What are the benefits of promoting diversity in healthcare?

Beyond the patient-forward benefits, choosing to hire and train healthcare professionals from diverse backgrounds does carry some additional benefits for the workforce. These include:

Higher morale

A more diverse team is one that actively promotes diversity and inclusion and, in turn, helps to raise morale. It doesn’t matter whether you already have an incredibly diverse team; you should always try to drive high morale through diverse practices.

Everyone wants to feel like they belong. When someone enters an accepting and welcoming work environment, they will settle in faster and will add to the atmosphere. With everyone freely and comfortably sharing their perspectives and thoughts, real progress toward diversity and inclusion can occur.

Improved recruitment and retention

People want to work in a happy workplace. When employees feel valued and supported in their place of work, and when there are opportunities for them to grow and develop their roles further, they will want to stay.

When candidates interview for new roles, they will also discover that the existing workforce has been in their positions for a long time and are satisfied with the level of care they have received from the company. This is ultimately a green flag for new hires and will encourage them to deliver years of service to the healthcare organization when they come aboard.

More training and mentoring opportunities

Healthcare employers need to build strong paths for mentorship and training if they wish their employees to climb the ranks and flourish as experts. Mentors play an incredibly vital role in the healthcare industry at every level. Their mentees deserve to have someone they look up to, someone they aspire to emulate, not just someone who can teach them sufficiently. Let’s return to the example set by nurses. Mentorship in nursing provides support to nurses of all experience levels and helps to break the cycle of burnout and resignations.

Diversity in mentoring plays an important role here. Once we have developed teams with diverse backgrounds and a range of aspirations, we need to encourage them to also lead and mentor the next generation. If a new hire can be mentored by someone with a similar background to themselves, especially those from marginalized communities, their eyes will hopefully be opened to the wealth of possibilities available to them.

Better care

The above three points eventually lead to happier and less stressed employees. They know that they can comfortably lean on one another for help when they need it the most. A team that works well together is then not distracted by internal squabbles, petty rivalries, and other issues that can negatively affect a working environment.

In turn, they can then focus on patient outcomes and delivering a high level of care. Patients can feel reassured that they are being served by competent healthcare providers with a first-class medical education.

Diversity — A pathway to success for healthcare workforce

We are always going to have things that divide us as a society. Even in ethnically homogenous countries around the globe, we still see inequalities arise in terms of wealth, education, and, most critically, health. Women account for approximately half the population, and yet research and care continually ignore their medical needs. When it comes to healthcare and medicine, we all deserve to receive the best possible treatment from expert caregivers.

diversity in healthcare blog 2

This is a difficult issue that will not be fixed with a few small changes. Overcoming stagnant systematic apathy requires a massive amount of grit and determination. Focusing on creating a diverse workforce in healthcare is only the beginning.

We need to ensure that all our communities are served by a reflection of them. People want to visit their doctor or nurse and be met with a caregiver they can relate to, whether this is someone who looks or talks like them, or just someone who can make them feel welcome. Encouraging a more diverse future in healthcare will ensure that everyone gets the care they need.

Mentorship is key to empowering diverse employees and ensuring long-term inclusion. MentorcliQ’s mentoring and ERG software supports mentoring across many industries, including healthcare. Our software has successfully helped Cardinal Health, Advocate Aurora Health, Sutter Health, and Fresenius Medical Care build and scale award-winning mentoring programs to uplift employees and build nurturing, diverse healthcare environments.

Book a demo today to find out more.

David Peterka

An email you’ll actually love

Get expert tips and techniques about Diversity in Healthcare: Where We Are at in the US.

Sent once per month. Containing valuable content.

Subscribe to the newsletter