Is the Profession Too White?

   From The Vet Gazette Editors: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not reflect the official opinions of SAVMA or The Vet Gazette.       

Leo Holguin, Western

Op-Ed submission

            Veterinary Medicine is the whitest profession in the United States. While the US population is experiencing a dramatic demographic change, the profession’s demographics have remained the same for the past 20 years. Can a profession who does not reflect the general population effectively serve its community?

The United States population is experiencing a rapid change in its ethnic makeup. Based on the Pew Research Center, it is estimated that by 2040 people of color will comprise more than half of the US population. Yet, while US demographics are changing, the phenotype of the veterinary profession remains unchanged. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 96% of all practicing veterinarians and 88% of all veterinary students are White. 96% are White. But, you may be asking yourself, why care. In order for the veterinary profession to address the needs of its clients and fulfill its mission of serving all of society and all animals to the best advantage, it must embrace diversity!

            A plethora of theories have risen in attempts to explain the lack of diversity within the profession. Unfortunately, those theories have been proposed by the very leaders of the profession: older white men who have adopted preconceived notions of race and gender. One theory claims that people of color do not own animals as pets or place value on them as one would for a human being. However, loving and caring for animals is not just a “white” practice. Animals are celebrated in many cultures--some even considered sacred-- and people from every cultural background love and care for pets. The difference between the white affluent American viewpoint of animals and the socioeconomically disadvantaged American viewpoint is quite different. The former are privileged enough to have the resources to have disposable income to spend extra income on pets than the latter who is struggling to survive on a daily basis. However, that does not take away the care, love and compassion people have toward their pets. As the saying goes, we often “judge a book by its cover” and assume that people of color do not care about their pets and would not invest in their well being purely based on preconceived notions—notions that need to be effaced.  

            Embracing diversity is not only the just thing but also improves patient outcome and increase a practice’s bottom-line. Graduating culturally competent veterinarians improves communication with clients, provides a better understanding of cultural attitudes and practices that affect animal care and allows for more inclusive work environments. A culturally competent veterinarian tailors the delivery of medical services in a way that can be understood by the client and results in the best possible outcome for the well-being of the animal. From a business point of view, minority clients are an untapped market as they are constantly turned away from practices and veterinarians that disregard their ethnic and cultural background. Between 1990 and 2009, Black and Asian-Americans doubled their buying power while Latinos tripled theirs according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. In order for the profession to identify and make the most of these emerging and untapped clients, it needs practices and professionals who understand them. The inclusion of different voices will help the profession identify the needs of these emerging clients and develop strategies and opportunities to succeed.

            The need to diversify the veterinary profession is a widely accepted notion. Since 2004, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) developed a task force to work on diversity issues. They have held diversity symposiums around the country in many national conferences and meetings. Unfortunately for the profession, these meetings have been met with very little interest and much apathy. While the profession has gained strides in increasing the increasing the number of women in the profession, less than 10% in the 1980s to over 80% today (Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges), it has done very little to change the numbers of veterinarians of color. Sadly, this phenomenon is not unique to the veterinary profession; it is rampant in higher education and professional degrees. For every 10 graduate degrees conferred, 1 goes to a student of color, a sad statistic from the American Council on Education. While many other professions have taken steps to change the status quo and increase diversify their demographics, veterinary medicine and schools have done little to nothing. Unless, the profession and veterinary schools adopt pro-active policies to attract students of color into the profession, veterinary medicine will remain the whitest profession in America.

Diversifying veterinary medicine is not only the just thing to do but, is also necessary if the profession wants to remain relevant and fulfill its duty to serve society and their animals. Therefore, as the face of our nation continues to change, so should the face of veterinary medicine.

Written By Leo Holguin

Submitted to New York Times

Comments

[Jen Dasse]

This is a very true and very sad fact. This was glaringly obvious to me on my first day of veterinary school. As a white woman, I was awe struck to find that nearly everyone in my class looked like me. Being from a metropolitan area, this was very new to me. I grew up colorblind and in my naïveté often expect others to feel similarly. This is a serious issue in veterinary medicine and requires action on all of our parts to share our love of this profession to people who may not have exposure to it. For the profession to change, we all have to change our attitudes.