Assessing barriers to the career ladder and professional development for ethnic minority genetic counselors in the United States

Abstract

Ethnic diversity is not reflected within healthcare professions, including genetic counseling, where lack of growth and membership among minority colleagues extends to upper‐level and executive roles. While diversity and inclusion‐based topics have been emphasized, studies on potential barriers to career advancement in the field of genetic counseling have not received the same attention. Our study examined the current state of mentorship and sponsorship programs, the presence of diversity and inclusion initiatives, and opportunities for career advancement through the lens of a minority genetic counselor. Practicing genetic counselors in the United States identifying as part of any racial group, other than non‐Hispanic White alone, were recruited through the Minority Genetics Professionals Network for survey participation. A 31‐item survey was fully completed by 19 practicing genetic counselors from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, allowing for individual stories and accounts to be amplified. Results showed 16 of 19 participants had never been promoted in their current employment setting. Additionally, 7 out of 19 respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that their company had a commitment to an ethnically diverse workforce within upper‐level positions. Prominent themes identified from open‐ended responses included lack of social connection with supervisors and the cross‐race effect, a term referencing a tendency for individuals to better recognize members of their own race or ethnicity than others. Additional themes revealed feelings of isolation, need for support from White colleagues, as well as desired emphasis on sponsorship tailored toward professional growth. These findings demonstrate a need for proactive involvement in reaching ethnic and racial minority genetic counselors through companywide policy efforts, support and advocacy from White colleagues, and modification of cultural perception frameworks. Further focus and emphasis on these distinct but critical topics may be important in promoting increased diversity in upper‐level positions in the field of genetic counseling.

Sponsorship in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

“…Sponsors and sponsees can benefit from partnering across differences and understanding how historically established stereotypes and practices have been associated with the landscape of medicine. Examples include (1) the double-bind dilemma or competence likability tradeoff, in which assertive women are viewed more negatively than assertive men; (2) the Matthew/Matilda effect, in which ideas are attributed more commonly to men; (3) how imposter syndrome, stereotypes, and cross-race effects can threaten women and those of racial and ethnic minority groups; and (4) how intersecting identities can be associated with layers of invisibility . To our knowledge, there are no distinct curricula for sponsorship across differences, but analogous resources exist for intersectional mentorship (eTable 3 in the Supplement).…”

“…Examples include (1) the double-bind dilemma or competence likability tradeoff, in which assertive women are viewed more negatively than assertive men; (2) the Matthew/Matilda effect, in which ideas are attributed more commonly to men; (3) how imposter syndrome, stereotypes, and cross-race effects can threaten women and those of racial and ethnic minority groups 12,18,22,25 ; and (4) how intersecting identities can be associated with layers of invisibility. 8,40,41 To our knowledge, there are no distinct curricula for sponsorship across differences, but analogous resources exist for intersectional mentorship (eTable 3 in the Supplement). 39 As sponsors engage in intersectional sponsorship, they can continue their own learning through reverse mentoring that is facilitated by the sponsee.…”

The 8-Inclusion Needs of All People: A Proposed Framework to Address Intersectionality in Efforts to Prevent Discrimination

“…Representation is about ensuring all people can contribute, are equally heard and valued, and can see themselves fairly and equally reflected in government and policy making (Bishin et al, 2021;Doel-Mackaway, 2019;Lajevardi & Spangler, 2022), the organizational hierarchy (Baldwin et al, 2022;Gerull et al, 2020;Trudgett et al, 2022), pay scales (Canedo, 2019;Longhi, 2020;Smith-Doerr et al, 2019), occupations (Alegria, 2020;Cech & Waidzunas, 2021;Nasager, 2020), communications and the media (Dutta & Elers, 2020;Fields & Newman, 2020;Johnson, 2015), and in decision making (Fujimoto et al, 2014;Harrison et al, 2019;Tabesh & Jolly, 2019).…”

“…Support is about providing additional support to people so they can achieve desired outcomes and fulfil their potential. That support may include, but not limited to; social services (Gibbons, 2022;Montgomery et al, 2020;Resurrección et al, 2019), policy and legal support (Brinks, 2019;González, 2018;Hessami & Baskaran, 2019), community and peer support (Ahmed et al, 2011;Holley et al, 2019;Roberts & Christens, 2021), education and training support (Brown et al, 2022;Chathuranga, 2021;Lindsay et al, 2021), support following an harassment claim (Castro & Goldbach, 2018;Daniel et al, 2019;Snyder & Schwartz, 2019), and organizational and leader support (Baldwin et al, 2022;Lyubykh et al, 2020;Nadler et al, 2017).…”