DIMP 2.0

practicing in the US were female. 11 Given that about 650 more female than male optometry students graduate per year, it is estimated that 2021 is the first time that there have been more female practicing optometrists than male practicing optometrists. While there have been marginal increases, we see that percentage of URM optometry students, residents, optometrists in academic optometry and overall practicing optometrists continues to be far below the representation in the US population. SUNY Optometry Data For the purposes of this analysis, the focus is on race and ethnicity, with an emphasis on students from communities who are historically underrepresented in optometry: those of Black and Hispanic/Latinx background. Those from American Indian/Alaska Native communities are so underrepresented that their presence does not exist in SUNY Optometry data. Consequently, analysis of that community is limited in this report. At SUNY Optometry, there has been steady but significant growth in racial and ethnic diversity among the student body and the staff. When the DIMP 1.0 was released in 2016, there were 1.8% students who identified as Black and 4.2% who identified as Hispanic (Table 1) in the optometry program. These percentages have steadily increased to a high of 4.4% who identify as Black and 6.5% who identify as Hispanic/Latinx. This marginally leveled off in 2021 to 4.3% Black and 6.4% Hispanic/Latinx. Although the number of applicants to optometry schools nationwide has increased, the applicant pool at SUNY Optometry has remained relatively stable. This suggests the interventions and initiatives put forth by DIMP 1.0 in 2016 have led to improvements in these numbers. Further analysis is detailed in the subcommittee reports (Appendix 1).

Table 1. Race of entire SUNY Optometry student body 2016-2021

NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER

TWO OR MORE RACES

Semester Fall 2016 Fall 2017 Fall 2018 Fall 2019 Fall 2020 Fall 2021

WHITE

BLACK

HISPANIC

ASIAN

FOREIGN

45.00% 44.60% 42.80% 42.10% 36.70% 38.90%

1.80% 2.30% 2.10% 2.80% 4.40% 4.30%

4.20% 3.80% 5.40% 5.90% 6.50% 6.40%

38.20% 39.50% 43.00% 45.00% 45.80% 44.00%

0.30% 0.30% 0.30% 0.00% 0.00% 0.30%

6.00% 5.90% 4.90% 3.10% 4.90% 4.90%

4.50% 3.60% 1.50% 1.00% 1.60% 1.30%

SUNY has made significant progress, and currently sits slightly above the national average of URM enrollment in optometry schools nationwide (Figure 2). This does not negate the fact that this area requires more work.

Figure 2. Four-year Black and Hispanic/Latinx enrollment in optometry schools; SUNY vs the national average

11 11 Heath, D. A., Spangler, J. S., Wingert, T. A., Chan, M., Smith, E. L., Grover, L. L., & Flanagan, J. G. (2021). 2017 National Optometry Workforce Survey. Optometry and Vision Science, 98 (5), 500-511.

SUNY Optometry | Diversity and Inclusion Master Plan 2.0 | 11