National Center for Institutional Diversity

Leveraging the Power of Diversity:
Global and Domestic Prospectives

OVERCOMING RANKISM | VALUING DIVERSITY | ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE

 

RANKISM IN HEALTHCARE
THURSDAY SEPT 25TH
5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH II AUDITORIUM
109 S. OBSERVATORY

Two demographic trends, retiring baby boomers and increasing racial and ethnic diversity, pose unique challenges for healthcare. Rankism pervades the culture of healthcare and threatens patient health, the ability to attract and retain diverse talent, and advances in scientific research. In this symposium, Dr. Fuller discusses specific incidents of rankism in healthcare and health sciences, as well as strategies to overcome it.

You understand rankism in healthcare if...

  • You’ve seen physicians bullying residents and nurses.
  • Achieving racial concordance between practitioners and patients is a challenge in your workplace.
  • You’ve noticed that some populations are reluctant to participate in, or are routinely excluded from research and clinical trials.
  • Racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes plague your patients.
  • Your institution has struggled to get underrepresented people in the pipeline, talent pool or profession.

RANKISM IN ORGANIZATIONS
FRIDAY SEPT 26TH
10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
ALUMNI CENTER, FOUNDERS ROOM
200 FLETCHER STREET

In this symposium, Dr. Fuller explains the concept of rankism and provides examples of how it undermines diversity in organizations, communities and global relations. He also offers specific insights into how to overcome rankism through management practices, policies and personal behavior.

You understand rankism if...

  • An older sibling or senior colleague has claimed privileges or excluded you, just because they could.
  • You notice certain populations or regions are regularly on the short end of policy making decisions.
  • A professor or colleague over-claimed credit for your work.
  • You notice that certain people or departments usually get more resources than others.
  • “Rules of the game” are unclear or favor the “in-group” in your area.

Back to Leveraging the Power of Diversity
Lynn Wooten

Dr. Robert Fuller, Ph. D., physicist and former President of Oberlin College, offers a revolutionary way to think about the difficulties of difference by explaining the term he developed - "rankism". Rankism subsumes all other "isms" and prevents organizations from leveraging the power of diversity. Fuller helps us transcend typical conversations about race and gender to think about how to overcome the root challenges of diversity in healthcare, in all organizations, and in global policy. He is the author of "Somebodies & Nobodies," "All Rise," and "Dignity for All" with Pamela Gerlott.

Dr. Fuller's Breaking Ranks website