Racial Differences In Urology Residency Applicant Personal Statements

You have accessJournal of UrologyEducation Research V (PD33)1 Sep 2021PD33-07 RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN UROLOGY RESIDENCY APPLICANT PERSONAL STATEMENTS Alysen Demzik, Pauline Filippou, Christopher Chew, Eric Wallen, Davis Viprakasit, Angela Smith, and Hung-Jui Tan Alysen DemzikAlysen Demzik More articles by this author , Pauline FilippouPauline Filippou More articles by this author , Christopher ChewChristopher Chew More articles by this author , Eric WallenEric Wallen More articles by this author , Davis ViprakasitDavis Viprakasit More articles by this author , Angela SmithAngela Smith More articles by this author , and Hung-Jui TanHung-Jui Tan More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000002037.07AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Underrepresented minorities (URM) within urology remain significantly low compared to other medical fields. Investigation into differences between urology residency applications by racial and ethnic groups may illuminate sources of bias in the current recruitment and selection process that contribute to continued underrepresentation. METHODS: A total of 342 personal statements submitted to the University of North Carolina urology program in the 2016-17 cycle were evaluated with Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a validated text analysis program. Independent sample T-tests and multivariate regression controlling for STEP1 score and gender were used to compare match rates, residency application variables and statement linguistic characteristics by reported race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Of evaluated applicants, 181 identified as White non-Hispanic, 86 as Asian and 75 as an URM. When evaluating application differences by race/ethnicity, Asian and URM applicants had more research projects compared to White applicants (11.7 and 12.9 vs. 8.8, p=0.01). STEP 1 scores for URMs were slightly lower when compared to White applicants (244.6 vs. 238.5, p=0.01). When evaluating personal statement linguistics, all applicants wrote with the same degree of analytical thinking. Asian applicants wrote with decreased authenticity (p=0.03) and emotional tone (p=0.04) while URM applicants wrote with increased clout (p=0.04). Asian applicants used longer words and more formal sentence structure. Applicants also differed in their use of pronouns: Asian applicants used ‘we/us/our’ more often (p<0.01), URM applicants used ‘you’ significantly more often (p=0.02) and White applicants used ‘I’ more often (p=0.01). There was no significant difference in personal statement characteristics between matched and unmatched applicants. CONCLUSIONS: Improving diversity in the workforce requires awareness of biases that may exist in the application process. In urology applications, subtle differences in word usage and writing style exist by racial/ethnic groups, which could influence perceptions of applicants, matching, and downstream training interactions. Appreciating these differences may help residency programs recruit and support trainees from diverse backgrounds. Source of Funding: None © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e579-e579 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Alysen Demzik More articles by this author Pauline Filippou More articles by this author Christopher Chew More articles by this author Eric Wallen More articles by this author Davis Viprakasit More articles by this author Angela Smith More articles by this author Hung-Jui Tan More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...