Diversity and Inclusion Master Plan

systemic changes and may be beyond SUNY Optometry’s reach, we are confident that effective strategies to increase the visibility of the profession (manifold) and empower applicants (filter) are within reach.

Based on the scenario presented in Figures 1a-c, a plausible question is if the pipeline is as leaky for URMs at other health profession schools as it is for URMs in optometry and at SUNY.

Figure 3 describes the pipeline of URMs into health professions and medical, pharmacy and dental schools. The numbers of URM is more equitable than those in optometry. Percentages of URM representation in each profession is directly associated with representation in the educational setting. A couple of conclusions can be drawn from the data: URM have been highly underrepresented in optometry schools and consequently in the optometry profession compared to other health professions which perform relatively better in URM representation. Optometry school is, on average 5 percentage points below medicine, pharmacy and dental schools. This difference may be due to minority students being unaware of the benefits of a career in optometry, leading in turn to a smaller percentage of URMs applying to optometry programs, and those applying being not as competitive as other applicants. This conclusion will be further explored later in this report.

% of URM by Professional School and Profession

30

20

30.9

10

11.4

11.1 9.6 9.8 13

9

7.8

5.7

0

Figure 3. Percentage of URM by Professional School and Profession

P age | 10