Between 2014 and 2024, a growing proportion of US medical school matriculants said that diversity among students and faculty was important when selecting a medical school.
In the study, investigators analyzed 189,176 responses from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Matriculating Student Questionnaire between the 2014 to 2015 and 2023 to 2024 academic years, representing an 80% response rate. Respondents included 53% female, 25% Asian, 9% Black, 11% Hispanic, and 58% White students. Nine percent identified as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB), and 29% reported annual household incomes below $75,000.
The respondents rated the importance of student and faculty diversity using a four-point scale. Responses were grouped as “important or very important” vs “not or somewhat important.” Annual percentage changes were calculated using linear regression, and group differences were compared with F tests. Data were analyzed between March and April 2025 using GraphPad Prism.
The percentage of respondents who valued student body diversity rose from 44% to 63%, whereas those who valued faculty diversity increased from 33% to 55%. Support peaked in 2020, when 67% cited student diversity and 59% cited faculty diversity as important factors. The trend was seen across sex, income, sexual orientation, and racial or ethnic groups.
By 2024, most matriculants considered student diversity important, with higher percentages observed among those from historically underrepresented backgrounds—defined as American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander—as well as LGB students and those from lower-income households. Annual percentage changes showed greater increases among White students compared with underrepresented students (3% vs 1%) and among heterosexual compared with LGB students (2% vs 1%). Differences by sex and income weren't statistically significant.
For faculty diversity, most groups showed similar growth. By 2024, most students except White and male matriculants rated faculty diversity as important.
The investigators noted that their findings might not represent all medical school matriculants, since participation in the questionnaire was voluntary. Self-reported demographic data could introduce bias, and changing political and social conditions over time might have influenced responses.
The decade-long trend suggested a broader cultural shift in medical education, where representational diversity has become a more consistent factor in school choice.
“[W]e found a significant and consistent increase in [t]he proportion of matriculants who considered student and faculty diversity important. This increase was observed across sex, income levels, sexual orientation, and racial and ethnic groups,” said lead study author Mytien Nguyen, MS, of the Yale School of Medicine, and colleagues. The investigators wrote that understanding how incoming medical students value diversity could inform recruitment and inclusion initiatives in the training of future physicians.
Full disclosures can be found in the published study.
Source: JAMA Network Open
