The Educational Pipeline for Health Care Professionals (original) (raw)

While the representation of black students in medical schools rose dramatically from approximately 2 percent in 1965 to more than 7 percent in 1975, gains in the representation of blacks among health professionals have slowed, with blacks currently representing slightly more than 8 percent of first year medical students in the U.S. The underrepresentation of black Americans in the healthcare professions may have direct implications for the health outcomes of minority patients, underscoring the importance of understanding how individual characteristics, student achievement, and undergraduate experience differentially affect the completion of graduate training in the health sciences by race. We specify a model of individuals' postsecondary decisions including college enrollment, college type, and baccalaureate degree completion, jointly with the decision to * We would like to thank Michelle Bucci and Elizabeth Katz for excellent research assistance. * Refers to individuals enrolling in non-vocational two-year or any four-year colleges or universities. † Refers to individuals receiving a baccalaureate degree from any four-year colleges or universities. ‡ Refers to individuals with post-baccalaureate degree who choose an occupation in the health professions. Note: Proportion refers to the group indicated by the column heading. Categories may not sum to one due to rounding or non-exhaustive category choice. Source: Authors' calculations using NLS-72. * Refers to individuals enrolling in non-vocational two-year or any four-year colleges or universities. † Refers to individuals receiving a baccalaureate degree from any four-year colleges or universities. ‡ * Refers to individuals enrolling in non-vocational two-year or any four-year colleges or universities. † Refers to individuals receiving a baccalaureate degree from any four-year colleges or universities. ‡ * Converted to a standard normal test statistic.