The diversity among the Brazilian population in racial and ethnic miscegenation is one of the highest in the world. Although diversity, equity, and inclusion have become increasingly focused recently, with the nonwhite population increasing in the United States and women representing more than half of the people, accounting for rising matriculants in medical schools, underrepresented minorities (URM) in academic faculty are only 8% and women 37%.¹1 Lin SY, Francis HW, Minor LB, Eisele DW. Faculty diversity and inclusion program outcomes at an academic otolaryngology department. Laryngoscope. 2016;126(2):352-6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lary.25455. Epub 2015 Jul 7. PMID: 26153871.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lary.25455.... In our specialty, underrepresented minorities and women are only 2% and 31% in academic otolaryngologist departments, respectively. A recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges on the rate of full-time medical school faculty among the otolaryngology departments shows that only 10.5% of positions are for women.²2 Association of American Medical Colleges. Faculty roster: US medical school faculty. Table C: Department Chairs by Department, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity, 2022. Published 2022. Accessed August 30, 2023. https://www.aamc.org/media/41546/download?attachment.
https://www.aamc.org/media/41546/downloa... Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery was one of five residency specialties with the least female representation (36%).³3 Farlow JL, Wamkpah NS, Francis HW, Bradford CR, Brenner MJ. Sponsorship in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery: a pathway to equity, diversity, and inclusion. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023;149(6):546-52, http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2023.0770.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2023.0... The specialty is ranked amongst the lower ethnical and racial diversity. Black medical students reported being discouraged from pursuing otolaryngology due to a lack of mentorship and mentors of the same race. Increasing the diversity in the medical workforce and academic medical setting could decrease healthcare inequity in the population.⁴4 Haugen T, Pai K, Desiato V, Lesh R. Diversity, Equity, and inclusion in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery: the big picture. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023;168(3):549-50, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01945998221120505. Epub 2023 Jan 29. PMID: 36040821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2023.1013191808-8694/© 2023 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01945998221120... The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) stated that increasing the diversity of academic health centers is a vital strategy to improve healthcare access in the United States.⁵5 Beech BM, Calles-Escandon J, Hairston KG, Langdon SE, Latham-Sadler BA, Bell RA. Mentoring programs of minority faculty in academic medical centers: a systematic literature revie. Acad Med. 2013;88:541-9. John Hopkins Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery formally adopted a diversity inclusion environment in 2004. After ten years, the rate of clinical faculty professors as women went from 5.8% to 23.7%. Improving the diversity in an academic medical faculty could bring innovation and reduction in healthcare disparities.¹1 Lin SY, Francis HW, Minor LB, Eisele DW. Faculty diversity and inclusion program outcomes at an academic otolaryngology department. Laryngoscope. 2016;126(2):352-6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lary.25455. Epub 2015 Jul 7. PMID: 26153871.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lary.25455.... Diversity brings new lights to thought with improved troubleshooting abilities and innovation, pursuing the entire community to new capabilities and thinking methods already observed in scientific data. Academic and hospital settings should also represent the diversity of the population with an increasing rate of women and URM improving the experience of care by the population.⁶6 Francis CL, Villwock JA. Diversity and inclusion-why does it matter. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2020;53(5):927-34, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.otc.2020.05.021. Epub 2020 Jul 20. PMID: 32703694.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.otc.2020.05.... There is also a great move toward diversity, equity, and inclusion in Brazil, including the officially-engaged post-graduation programs. Still, a lack of scientific data in our field in Brazil left us clueless as the rate of disparities could be the same as in the United States; an inclusive program in academic faculties could shed new light on healthcare pathway improvement.

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