Fritz François and Gbenga Ogedegbe:
A growing number of medical schools have announced that they will no longer share data with U.S. News & World Report. These schools claim that the magazine’s annual rankings hinder their ability to increase diversity. New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai asserted that the rankings undermine its “commitment to anti-racism, and outreach to diverse communities.”
Such claims aren’t supported by evidence. The ranking methodology, as currently constructed, includes consideration of students’ Medical College Admission Test scores and undergraduate grade-point averages, as well as other criteria. But medical schools have always been free to admit anyone they choose, regardless of their rankings. It’s true that diversity isn’t a criterion in the U.S. News methodology, but why should that stop schools from recruiting minority applicants or establishing a campus culture that encourages and values diversity? There is nothing in a thoughtful admissions process that explicitly prevents medical schools from assembling a student body based on anything other than academic performance, holistic reviews and interviews of candidates.
Additionally, U.S. News makes its decisions independent of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education standards on diversity and inclusion, which are part of the accreditation requirements for all medical schools. These schools have always had the opportunity to demonstrate a strategic approach with respect to diversity in their accreditations.
What these schools are really saying is that meritocracy can’t coexist with diversity. This is a presumptuous—and dangerous—perpetuation of the negative stereotype that students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in medicine are of lesser quality or unable to compete. Diversity is no reason to opt out of a competitive process, especially as some of those medical schools actually encourage their alumni to vote in the U.S. News “Best Hospitals” ranking.