“They Wanted to Talk to a ‘Real Doctor’”: Predictors, Perpetrators, and Experiences of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination Among Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Background: Racial and ethnic diversity of healthcare workers have benefits on team functioning and patient care. However, a significant barrier to retaining diverse providers is discrimination. Objective: To assess the predictors, perpetrators, and narratives of racial discrimination among healthcare workers. Design: Survey study. Participants: Healthcare workers employed at academic hospitals. Main Measures: We assessed prevalence and perpetrators of racial and ethnic discrimination using the General Ethnic Discrimination Scale. We included an open-ended question asking respondents to recount experiences of discrimination and analyzed responses using grounded theory. Key Results: Of the 997 participants, 12.2% were females from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URM), 4.0% URM males, 10.1% Asian females, 4.7% Asian males, 49.1% non-Hispanic White females, and 19.8% non-Hispanic White males. Among healthcare workers of color, 85.2% reported discrimination. Over half of URM females (51.4%), URM males (52.6%), and Asian females (62.5%) reported discrimination by patients. About 20–25% of URM females, URM males, and Asian females reported discrimination by teachers, supervisors, co-workers, and institutions. In adjusted binary logistic models, URM females had 10.14 odds (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 5.13, 20.02, p