NIH’s UNITE Takes Steps to Address and Eliminate Ethnic and Racial Disparities
The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) UNITE, a think tank that identifies and addresses structural racism in NIH and the biomedical research enterprise, began taking steps in February 2021 (https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/research-training/initiatives/ending-structural-racism/UNITE-progress-report-2022.pdf) to address disparities across NIH and the medical community. The think tank’s actions included (https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/02/17/unite-shares-insights-first-progress-report) revising the selection process for NIH director’s awards and establishing a new program to provide additional training opportunities to employees of color, according to UNITE’s first progress report (https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/research-training/initiatives/ending-structural-racism/UNITE-progress-report-2022.pdf).
UNITE’s other approaches (https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/02/17/unite-shares-insights-first-progress-report) include:
- Establishing a listserv to advertise NIH jobs to a broader group of candidates
- Publishing demographic data about NIH’s workforce on UNITE’s website
- Hiring chief diversity officers to focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts
- Developing racial and ethnic equity plans to identify and track areas for improvement
The think tank’s leaders committed to promoting further equity by adding it as a critical measure for annual performance evaluations, Brenda Robles, manager of the NIH’s Clinical Center social work department’s language interpreter program, said (https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/02/17/unite-shares-insights-first-progress-report).
“This demonstrates we have a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and that we’re all participating in this,” Robles said (https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/02/17/unite-shares-insights-first-progress-report). “There is unity and strength in diversity, diversity of thinking, and racial diversity.”
UNITE committees include more than 80 volunteer members (https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/02/17/unite-shares-insights-first-progress-report) at all seniority levels across NIH. Each has a unique mission but works collaboratively to “develop methods that enhance equity across the scientific enterprise,” allowing UNITE to make significant progress (https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2023/02/17/unite-shares-insights-first-progress-report) in a short amount of time.