The American Dental Education Association (ADEA), supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has identified best practices to recruit and retain underrepresented minority faculty that highlight the importance of leadership, institutional climate, mentoring, and valuing diversity.
The 126-page book, Growing Our Own: The ADEA Minority Faculty Development Program: A Manual For Institutional Leadership in Diversity, presents diversity in three dimensions, which include compositional (demographics), cultural competency education, and institutional climate. It also includes deans' personal commentaries, site visit observations, and recommendations.
A lack of growth in the graduation of new dentists and a shift in U.S. population demographics are creating the crisis, which especially affects underserved and minority groups, the ADEA stated. It views diversity among dental faculty as critical to a diverse dental workforce.
ADEA Minority Dental Faculty Development (ADEA MDFD) grants were awarded to six participating academic dental institutions and one consortium of dental schools over six years. The grants were used primarily to support direct educational costs for underrepresented minority dentists.
Collectively, the institutions represent different institutional profiles among U.S. dental schools. Their unique features will contribute to long-term outcomes, as envisioned in ADEA MDFD sustainability planning.
Participating schools were the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Baylor College of Dentistry, Howard University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Oklahoma, and the New York State Academic Dental Centers, which includes New York University, Columbia University, University at Buffalo, Stony Brook University, and the University of Rochester.
