Exploring Minority Ethnic Doctors' Career Transitions In Medicine

Birmingham Business School academics, working with Aston University, run this ESRC-funded project. Its aim is to increase understanding of how minority ethnic doctors and aspirants progress through the stages of a medical career, and how ethnicity is significant to that journey. This three-year project will provide insight into the career barriers and enablers for minority ethnic doctors, and how to improve their retention in medicine.

Although minority ethnic doctors are well-represented in the medical profession, research indicates that they still face barriers to their inclusion and their career progression which exacerbates doctor shortages.

This project will provide an in-depth understanding of how minority ethnic doctors transition through the various stages of a medical career in the UK and how ethnicity, nationality, social class and gender are relevant to their career progression. This research will deepen understanding of the drivers of doctor recruitment and retention, of ethnicity within the professions, and of the life-course approach to career research.

We will examine the career transitions of early, mid and late career-stage doctors to deepen our understanding of the challenges faced and the strategies adopted to address those challenges at different career points. We will be able to reflect on whether changing narratives around ethnicity in society and the increasing importance placed on promoting diversity and inclusion have influenced the way in which different generations of doctors reflect on career barriers and the strategies for progression.

The project is funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC).

Our research objectives are:

To use a life-course approach to examine how minority ethnic doctors transition through each stage of a medical career and explore how race and ethnicity is relevant to the barriers faced and the strategies employed at each stage.
To increase understanding of how minority ethnic doctors achieve career success, and explore the barriers, enablers, inclusion, voice, exit and career strategies that are used.
To understand the diversity of experiences and approaches of minority ethnic doctors and how experiences and strategies might differ for minority ethnic doctors from different ethnic groups, different nationalities, different social class backgrounds, and for male and female doctors.
To learn lessons to support the career success of minority ethnic professionals from other fields.

Update on project activities

Work Package 1

Literature reviews

We are conducting two semi-systematic reviews of the academic literature review to identify what is known about:
a) the research on race and ethnicity at work in the UK since 1990

b) the importance of race and ethnicity to how ethnic minority doctors experience a career in medicine

Longitudinal analysis of UKMED data

We are currently conducting a longitudinal analysis of data from the UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) to analyse differences in choice of medical specialty and career progression between ethnic minority doctors and doctors from other ethnic groups. This analysis will advance understanding of the role of ethnicity, gender, and social class in shaping choice of medical specialty and career progression in medicine.

Work Package 2

Focus groups with minority ethnic Year 13 students

We have conducted 12 focus groups with minority ethnic Year 13 students to understand their perceptions of a career in medicine, motivations for choosing medicine or other science-related careers, influences on their career-related decision-making, and career plans.

National survey of medical school students

We are currently conducting a national survey of medical school students from all ethnic groups to understand how medical students from different backgrounds are similar or different in terms of their perceptions of career opportunities and challenges.

Work Package 3

Interviews with doctors

We are currently interviewing minority ethnic doctors working in the UK about how they progress their medical careers in the UK. The interviews aim to explore how minority ethnic doctors transition through the different stages of a medical career in the UK and how ethnicity, nationality, religion, social class and gender impact on their workplace experiences and career progression.

If you are an ethnic minority doctor working in the UK and would be interested in being interviewed, please find more details in this flyer.

Research team

Professor Etlyn Kenny
Professor of Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour
Etlyn's research interests are in the field of employee diversity and organisational careers.
Professor Joanne Duberley
Professor of Organisation Studies
Professor Jo Duberley is Interim Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences at the, University of Birmingham.
Dr Christian Darko
Associate Professor in Labour and Development Economics
Christian's research is located around issues related to employment outcomes, educational mismatch, health and wellbeing in developing countries, and firm productivity.
Dr. Ashok Patnaik
Research Fellow
Ashok is a Research Fellow in the Department of Management and is a member of the Organisations, Work and Employment Group.