Self-Study University of Utah Health

The Diversity, Inclusion, Culture and Equity (DICE) Inventory Results

The Association of American Medical Colleges has developed an 89-question inventory to assist health professions schools (including, but not limited to medical schools) determine if their policies and procedures reflect the best practices in health professions equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine (SFESOM) is participating in a national study of this instrument, and Drs. Cariello and Rodríguez led multiple sessions to answer all the questions for the school of medicine from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. Those results have been submitted to the research team, and in a few months, we will know how the SFESOM measures up against peer institutions.

The University of Utah Health Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (UHEDI) office purchased the DICE inventory for the use of health sciences academic units in early 2021, and we have completed our first administration of this inventory. Here we present the results of the survey, purely as a starting point. Because the survey is proprietary, we can only publish the results. Individuals can contact our office for more information on how to use this tool. Next year, we will collect this information again and assess our progress.

This inventory is designed to identify areas of improvement. Green areas show that there is less opportunity for improvement, while yellow and red areas identify tasks that need to be prioritized. Readers may notice that there is relatively little green, compared to the yellow and red areas. We remind our stakeholders that this is the baseline assessment, and improvement in many of the identified areas has already taken place. We are also very pleased with the people who filled out the survey with the intent of using it to help improve our equity, diversity and inclusion outcomes. While it is difficult to state things that may be seen in a negative light, and even more difficult to report them, we are heartened by our University of Utah Health institutional commitment to transparency and to continuous equity improvement.

In the Colleges of Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the School of Dentistry, the DICE inventory was completed by the Associate or Assistant Deans for Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), assisted by college/school-wide EDI committees. In the case of Women in Health Medicine and Science, the inventory was completed by the steering committee. For Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Eccles Health Sciences Library, the inventory was completed by the Associate Directors for EDI and their respective EDI committees. In the case of the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, the effort to complete the survey was led by the Chief Human Relations Officer.

Governance, Leadership, Mission	U Health Average	Dentistry	EHSL	HCI	Health	Nursing	Pharmacy	Medicine	WiHMS	UUHC
Governance & Leadership Structures	79.8%	66.7%	90.9%	72.7%	100%	75%	75%	75%	83.3%	50%
Mission, Vision, & Values	62.5%	50%	100%	75%	50%	100%	25%	75%	25%	100%
Institutional Planning & Policies	U Health Average	Dentistry	EHSL	HCI	Health	Nursing	Pharmacy	Medicine	WiHMS	UUHC
Strategic Planning & Accountability	40.6%	100%	50%	50%	50%	0%	0%	75%	0%	25%
DEI Policies	62.9%	50%	83.3%	33.3%	75%	66.7%	70%	58.3%	66.7%	75%
Communications & Engagement	U Health Average	Dentistry	EHSL	HCI	Health	Nursing	Pharmacy	Medicine	WiHMS	UUHC
Institutional History	62.5%	100%	83.3%	50%	50%	100%	50%	16.7%	50%	50%
Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Communication	37.5%	0%	100%	0%	50%	0%	0%	100%	50%	100%
Local & National DEI Engagement	50%	25%	50%	50%	50%	50%	25%	75%	75%	N/A
Data and Assessment	U Health Average	Dentistry	EHSL	HCI	Health	Nursing	Pharmacy	Medicine	WiHMS	UUHC
DEI Data Collection & Reporting	28.1%	25%	25%	25%	25%	0%	0%	75%	50%	0%
Culture & Climate Data Collection & Reporting	56.9%	75%	100%	40%	40%	60%	0%	40%	100%	100%
Community Data Collection & Reporting	50%	100%	0%	100%	0%	66.7%	66.7%	0%	66.7%	33%
Faculty & Staff	U Health Average	Dentistry	EHSL	HCI	Health	Nursing	Pharmacy	Medicine	WiHMS	UUHC
Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Faculty Recruitment	40%	20%	40%	40%	40%	40%	0%	40%	100%	N/A
Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Faculty Scholarship, Promotion, & Retention	44.2%	28.6%	75%	25%	50%	50%	0%	37.5%	87.5%	N/A
Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Staff Recruitment & Development	32.2%	28.6%	71.4%	42.9%	14.3%	28.6%	14.3%	0%	57.1%	57.1%
Students	U Health Average	Dentistry	EHSL	HCI	Health	Nursing	Pharmacy	Medicine	WiHMS	UUHC
DEI Valued Curricular & Cocurricular Experiences	69.4%	75%	100%	80%	100%	60%	20%	60%	60%	N/A
Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Student Development	60.9%	12.5%	75%	100%	37.5%	75%	12.5%	87.5%	87.5%	N/A
Overall DICE Inventory	U Health Average 54.4%	Dentistry 46.3%	EHSL 73.2%	HCI 53.4%	Health 55.1%	Nursing 57.3%	Pharmacy 27.7%	Medicine 53.9%	WiHMS 68.5%	UUHC 60%

We are Not an Average Institution, We are an Excellent Institution

Climate Survey

In 2015, University of Utah Health, under the direction of Ana María López, MD, initiated a climate survey, which was administered to all of the faculty, staff, students, and residents at U of U Health, as well as to every hospital employee. The results are posted here for your perusal.

Read the full report

word-cloud of commonly used words in the report

While these data are old, in the effort to create full transparency, we are posting all of our results for our stakeholders and community members to see. Of note, there are three things that should be considered.

This climate survey had a relatively low response rate of 23 percent. Multiple attempts were made to capture these data, but for a multitude of reasons, we were unable to get a higher response rate.
Although the response rate was low, secondary analysis revealed that as far as race/ethnicity/gender demographics are concerned, the responders were considered a representative sample.
We will be repeating a climate survey in 2022, using the same instrument. We ask that when the next climate survey happens, that there be a grass-roots effort to respond to get a higher response rate.

The Middle Third

The other notable finding is that when our results were benchmarked, we were average—in the middle third for most categories with the exception of common purpose, where we were in the top third. This is important because we are not an average institution, we are an excellent institution. Therefore, we have work to do to ensure that our excellence is evident in our diversity engagement as well.

Engagement Cluster and Inclusion Factor	Range	Benchmark Mean	UUHS Mean	UUHS Ranking
Vision/Purpose Cluster	(10-50)	38.41	38.86	Middle Third
Common Purpose Factor	(2-10)	8.05	8.15	Top Third
Access to Opportunity Factor	(2-10)	7.81	7.97	Middle Third
Equitable Reward and Recognition Factor	(2-10)	7.07	7.17	Middle Third
Cultural Competence Factor	(4-20)	15.46	15..55	Middle Third
Camaraderie Cluster	(6-30)	23.07	23.25	Middle Third
Trust Factor	(3-15)	11.42	11.47	Middle Third
Sense of Belonging Factor	(3-15)	11.66	11.78	Middle Third
Appreciation Cluster	(6-30)	23.34	23.56	Middle Third
Appreciation of Individual Attributes Factor	(3-15)	11.49	11.64	Middle Third
Respect Factor	(3-15)	11.85	11.92	Middle Third