Balancing Fairness and Efficiency: The Impact of Identity-Blind and Identity-Conscious Accountability on Applicant Screening

The current state of transplant advanced practice providers: results of the advanced practice provider practice survey

Advanced practice providers (APPs) are trained, licensed health care providers. The American Society of Transplant APP community of practice developed an electronic survey to investigate transplant APP demographics, scope of practice, and academic activities. We defined the top of scope of practice as delivering health care to the fullest extent of APP education and training as allowed by state laws and regulations. From July 11, 2020, to August 31, 2020, 307 invitations were e-mailed and survey links were distributed electronically on the community of practice hub and social media. Two hundred fifty-three APPs responded. APPs practice in inpatient and outpatient settings. Among the respondent APPs, 11.5% assist in the operating room (OR), 46.3% of inpatient and 46.6% of outpatient APPs perform procedures, and 17.8% run specialized APP clinics. 26.2% feel they do not function at the top of their scope of practice and 29.7% were expected to function as a coordinator some or all of the time. Forty-three percent gave invited lectures, 41.5% have published, and 69.2% teach physician trainees. 74.7% and 35.1%, respectively, would like to participate in research and teach but are limited by time, opportunity, and experience. APPs should practice at the top of their scope of practice. Clinical workloads and lack of time limit the ability of APP to teach and contribute to evidence-based practice.

Walking the Walk: The Case for Internal Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Work Within the Canadian Public Health Sector

Equity is fundamental to public health practice. However, limited work has evaluated public health units, as employers, in ensuring equitable workplaces. Public health units must examine their policies for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusiveness. We suggest strategies that these organizations may adopt to establish a diverse workforce, including programs of responsibility, broader advertisement of employment opportunities, and standardized application processes. These practices are site dependent and are more effective when supported by senior management. By considering these strategies, institutions of public health can improve equity, diversity, and inclusion in their workplaces while addressing health equity in the communities they serve.

Broadly sampled assessment reduces ethnicity-related differences in clinical grades

CONTEXT

Ethnicity-related differences in clinical grades exist. Broad sampling in assessment of clinical competencies involves multiple assessments used by multiple assessors across multiple moments. Broad sampling in assessment potentially reduces irrelevant variances and may therefore mitigate ethnic disparities in clinical grades.

OBJECTIVES

Research question 1 (RQ1): to assess whether the relationship between students' ethnicity and clinical grades is weaker in a broadly sampled versus a global assessment. Research question 2 (RQ2): to assess whether larger ethnicity-related differences in grades occur when supervisors are given the opportunity to deviate from the broadly sampled assessment score.

METHODS

Students' ethnicity was classified as Turkish/Moroccan/African, Surinamese/Antillean, Asian, Western, and native Dutch. RQ1: 1667 students (74.3% native Dutch students) were included, who entered medical school between 2002 and 2004 (global assessment, 818 students) and between 2008 and 2010 (broadly sampled assessment, 849 students). The main outcome measure was whether or not students received ≥3 times a grade of 8 or higher on a scale from 1 to 10 in five clerkships. RQ2: 849 students (72.4% native Dutch students) were included, who were assessed by broad sampling. The main outcome measure was the number of grade points by which supervisors had deviated from broadly sampled scores. Both analyses were adjusted for gender, age, (im)migration status and average bachelor grade.

RESULTS

Research question 1: ethnicity-related differences in clinical grades were smaller in broadly sampled than in global assessment, and this was also seen after adjustments. More specifically, native Dutch students had reduced probabilities (0.87-0.65) in broadly sampled as compared with global assessment, whereas Surinamese (0.03-0.51) and Asian students (0.21-0.30) had increased probabilities of having ≥3 times a grade of 8 or higher in five clerkships. Research question 2: when supervisors were allowed to deviate from original grades, ethnicity-related differences in clinical grades were reintroduced.

CONCLUSIONS

Broadly sampled assessment reduces ethnicity-related differences in grades.

Implicit Age Cues in Resumes: Subtle Effects on Hiring Discrimination

Anonymous resume screening, as assumed, does not dissuade age discriminatory effects. Building on job market signaling theory, this study investigated whether older applicants may benefit from concealing explicitly mentioned age signals on their resumes (date of birth) or whether more implicit/subtle age cues on resumes (older-sounding names/old-fashioned extracurricular activities) may lower older applicants’ hirability ratings. An experimental study among 610 HR professionals using a mixed factorial design showed hiring discrimination of older applicants based on implicit age cues in resumes. This effect was more pronounced for older raters. Concealing one’s date of birth led to overall lower ratings. Study findings add to the limited knowledge on the effects of implicit age cues on hiring discrimination in resume screening and the usefulness of anonymous resume screening in the context of age. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Ethnic Minorities' Impression Management in the Interview: Helping or Hindering?

Cross-cultural impression management (IM) has not been considered much, which is remarkable given the fast rate at which the labor market is becoming multicultural. This study investigated whether ethnic minorities and majorities differed in their preference for IM-tactics and how this affected ethnic minorities' interview outcomes. A preliminary study (focus groups/survey) showed that ethnic minorities (i.e., Arab/Moroccans) preferred 'entitlements' whereas majorities (i.e., Flemish/Belgians) preferred 'opinion conformity' as IM-tactics. An experimental follow-up study among 163 ethnic majority raters showed no main effect of IM-tactics on interview ratings. Ethnic minorities' use of IM-tactics only affected interview ratings if rater characteristics were considered. Specifically, interview ratings were higher when ethnic minorities used opinion conformity (i.e., majority-preferred IM-tactic) and lower when minorities used entitlements (i.e., minority-preferred IM-tactic) if recruiters were high in social dominance orientation, and when they felt more experienced/proficient with interviewing. IM-tactics are a human capital factor that might help applicants to increase their job chances on the labor market. It is concluded that ethnic minority applicants' preferences for certain IM-tactics might lead to bias even in structured interview settings, but that this depends on ethnic majority recruiters' interview experience and ingroup/outgroup attitudes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.