Organizations with diverse leadership demonstrate cultural competence at all levels and inspire greater loyalty in diverse markets. But a recent article in Healthcare Finance News showed that less than 15 percent of healthcare professionals believe healthcare organizations have been effective in closing the ethnic/racial leadership gap over the past five years.
The Macy Foundation has long believed in the importance of diversifying the health professions workforce and this article is just one of the more recent reminders of how important that work is. To achieve culturally competent care and meet the needs of our increasingly diverse public, the health care workforce itself needs to mirror our country’s growing diversity.
To this end, the Foundation is proud to support leaders such as Roberta Waite, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Academic Integration and Evaluation of Community Programs at Drexel University, College of Nursing and Health Professions. Waite is a member of the first-ever class of Macy Faculty scholars, and is currently carrying out a project to develop leadership skills among African American, Hispanic, and Native American nurses-in-training, preparing them for positions like managers, supervisors, department directors and deans in schools of nursing. Read more about her project here.
The Faculty Scholars program is in its second year. Read more about the program here.