Women in leadership matters: Achieving diversity in radiology residency recruitment

To assess whether academic radiology departments and residency programs with efforts toward supporting and augmenting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are associated with a higher proportion of residents from diverse backgrounds. Program Directors within the Radiology Residency Education Research Alliance were surveyed to gather information about program characteristics, incorporation of diversity in resident recruitment, the sponsoring department's commitment to efforts at expanding diversity, and a summary of their current and past residents, staff and faculty members (academic years 2020 and 2023) with respect to a list of diversity characteristics. Survey response rate was 51 %. Sixty-three percent (15/24) of participating programs have departmental committees dedicated to DEI work; 46 % (11/24) of programs' departments have a Vice Chair for DEI. Sixty percent (15/24) of programs use their social media accounts to advertise their DEI programming efforts. Ninety-six percent (23/24) of programs participating in the survey use diversity factors to select candidates for their program. Women Leadership was associated with above-median diversity of residents and faculty. This study of radiology residency programs encourages a more prominent role for women in leadership positions within academic radiology departments to drive diversity and inclusion efforts. •Efforts to expand diversity, equity and inclusion across academic radiology have increased substantially over the past three years.•The vast majority of surveyed radiology residency programs consider various factors reflecting diversity of residency candidates when assessing applications.•Surveyed radiology residency programs and their sponsoring departments with women in top leadership positions are more likely to have more diverse residents and faculty.