• Leah M Backhus, Jacques Kpodonu, Jennifer C Romano, Glenn J Pelletier, Ourania Preventza, and David T Cooke.
• Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California. Electronic address: lbackhus@stanford.edu.
• Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2019 Dec 1; 108 (6): 1617-1624.

AbstractDiversity within health care organizations has many proven benefits, yet women and other groups remain underrepresented in cardiothoracic surgery. We sought to explore responses from a Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) survey to identify myths and barriers for informing organizational strategies in the STS and cardiothoracic surgery. We performed a qualitative review of narrative survey responses within three domains surrounding diversity in cardiothoracic surgery: myths, barriers, and strategies for improvement. Common diversity myths included diversity as a pipeline problem (24%), diversity equated to exclusivity (21%), and diversity not supporting meritocracy (18%). The most frequent barrier code was perceived prejudice (22%). Suggested strategies toward improvement were culture change prioritizing diversity (22%) and training the leaders (14%). Notably, 15% of response codes reflected the belief that disparities do not exist; thus, the issue should not be prioritized by the organization. The results do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of most of the STS membership; nonetheless, they provide important insight critical to guide any efforts toward eliminating disparities within cardiothoracic surgery and improving the care of our patients.Copyright © 2019 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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