Discussing systemic racism and racial privilege at a large, academic health center using a modified privilege walk

Abstract

Background: There is a motivation for organizations to understand race and racism from the perspective of minoritized individuals. Academic health centers (AHC) are ideal organizations to have these conversations as they educate healthcare providers, support research in health disparities, and care for diverse patients.

Methods: We piloted and evaluated a virtual Modified Privilege Walk (MPW) with faculty, staff, and students at an AHC in July 2020 to promote difficult conversations about race/racism, social class, and privilege. Each MPW session was voluntary, held virtually over Zoom, and lasted one hour and thirty minutes. Before attending, participants answered questions based on their race/ethnicity and social class to calculate a "privilege score." After each session, attendees were asked to complete an evaluation survey.

Results: There were five virtual MPWs with 132 attendees, and 74 participants completed an evaluation survey (56% response rate). Many respondents were students (n = 29, 39.2%). Most respondents either agreed (n = 36, 48.6%) or strongly agreed (n = 32, 43.2%) that the virtual MPW positively impacted how they will interact with those of a different race/ethnicity. Attendees requested having more virtual MPWs with leadership, incorporating virtual MPWs in various program curricula, and requiring new employees to participate.

Conclusions: American organizations, particularly AHCs, should provide safe spaces and support these discussions surrounding race and racism as many were founded, built, or operated during a time of free labor and segregation that exerted power and control over minoritized individuals. Authors provide recommendations to dismantle organizational racism and support minoritized employees, patients, and students.

Keywords: Academic medical centers; Health Equity; Privilege; Race/Ethnicity; Racial privilege; Social determinants of health; Systemic racism.

Fig. 1

Example illustration showing range of fictious privilege scores n = 29. The figure contains fictitious data and does not represent any virtual MPW session. The figure illustrates how total privilege scores are shown to participants to have an in-depth conversation about privilege, race, and social class.

Fig. 2

MPW and perception of privilege, n = 74

Fig. 3

MPW and privilege awareness, n = 74

Fig. 4

MPW and impact on interactions with people of a different race, n = 74