Report from the Workforce on Diversity and Inclusion—The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Members’ Bias Experiences

Diversity and inclusion within The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is paramount to the growth and excellence of our specialty. As such, discussions about challenges that prevent our Society from achieving this goal are necessary. The Workforce on Diversity and Inclusion has been tasked with understanding our membership's comprehension and experience with bias, which is known to have a negative impact on those of female gender, minority race, sexual orientation status, and religious status. Bias contributes to the fact that we are far from gender parity within our Society's leadership and that we must make significant changes in order to achieve a diverse membership. Within this report, we discuss the literature regarding experience with gender- and racial/ethnic-directed implicit and explicit bias during surgical training and within the cardiothoracic surgical workforce. We also share survey results on members’ experience with racial/ethnic-, gender-, and other minority demographic–directed bias.