The diversity of professors in the basic science departments of US medical schools is unlikely to change in the next 60 years, according to research.

This is despite a huge increase in the number of potential professorial candidates from under-represented minority groups over the past 30 years.

The researchers, led by Kenneth Gibbs, programme director at the US National Institute of General Medical Sciences, created a model to look at how well connected the pool of PhD graduates from under-represented groups is to the diversity of assistant professors in basic science departments at US medical schools.

They found that the number of scientists from under-represented minorities, including African American, Hispanic, American Indian and Native Alaskan, hired as assistant professors was ¡°not related¡± to the number of potential candidates.

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By contrast, there was a ¡°strong correlation¡± between the PhD pool and the number of assistant professors for scientists from well-represented backgrounds, they say in the paper published in eLife.

Dr Gibbs, who works in the division of training, workforce development and diversity, told Times Higher Education: ¡°It is striking that the model predicts we won't see significant progress over the next 60-plus years.

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¡°Diversity in many respects ¨C including the backgrounds of researchers ¨C is critical to scientific excellence,¡± he added.

According to data presented in the paper, between 1980 and 2013 the number of PhD graduates from under-represented groups increased by a factor of 9.3, compared with a 2.6-fold rise in white and Asian people with PhDs, the well-represented group.

Dr Gibbs said that unless there was a ¡°better connection¡± between the PhD talent pool and the academic hiring process for under-represented groups there would ¡°never be a time when we see the diversity of the faculty matching, or even coming close, to the increasing diversity of the PhD pool¡±.

Exactly why this is happening requires more investigation, said Dr Gibbs. ¡°We really need high-quality data about faculty position applications, interviews and offers across demographics to have a better sense of where the appropriate points of intervention are,¡± he added. ?

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But he believed that there could be several reasons. His previous research has suggested that scientists from under-represented groups disproportionately chose to pursue careers outside university research.

Dr Gibbs added that there could also be bias in the hiring process and that early career researchers from under-represented groups may not be in ¡°proper social networks¡±, which other research has found is important in hiring in academia.

The authors point out that the diversity problem could be fixed relatively quickly. ¡°If roughly two-thirds of medical schools hired (and retained) just one faculty member from an [under-represented minority] background annually for the next six years, the system would reach parity with the PhD pool within one tenure cycle,¡± they say.

Dr Gibbs said that diverse groups asked broader types of research questions and used a wider variety of approaches in their work, which ultimately leads to new innovations.

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¡°Further, as the US population continues to diversify, long-term competitiveness depends on us being able to draw talent from all groups,¡± he added.

holly.else@tesglobal.com