Frequently Asked Questions
Why did leaders of Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign and Fogarty Innovation start DxD HealthTech?
In 2019, Stanford Biodesign and Fogarty Innovation, together with medtech executive Maria Sainz, convened a summit to explore gender diversity in health technology innovation. In parallel, they conducted an industry survey to better understand leadership representation and perceptions of workplace equality, job satisfaction, and work life balance. These two efforts identified numerous inequalities in the workplace that negatively affect women’s experiences and have the potential to drive them out of the field. The summit, and resulting interest in ways to address these issues, led to the creation of Diversity by Doing HealthTech in 2020. The action-oriented initiative was founded to develop and share real world solutions that could help improve diversity in health technology.
DxD HealthTech initially focused on gender, then expanded its efforts to encompass race and other dimensions of human diversity.
Why is diversity in health tech essential?
Diversity across multiple dimensions, including gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability, and socioeconomic backgrounds, provides a breadth of perspectives that inspires creativity and helps innovators understand and address healthcare needs for different patient populations. That same diversity is essential in testing new drugs and devices in order to determine their safety and efficacy for the heterogenous individuals who will use them.
How does DxD help companies address diversity gaps?
The industry’s lack of diversity stems from problems that affect women and underrepresented minorities all along the pipeline, from students to seasoned executives. Young people interested in healthcare may not even be aware of opportunities in the industry, precluding them from pursuing careers in the field. For those already hired, a lack of supportive mentorship and guidance contributes to attrition.
Do speed mentors need to be women or people of color?
No. Diversity by Doing mentors should have deep subject matter expertise in healthcare innovation, career and/or personal development, or another relevant field, plus compassion, empathy, authenticity and a commitment to creating a connection. We expect our mentors to listen carefully and provide feedback and advice that demonstrates that they care about the individuals they are mentoring. What’s most important is that participants have the heart of a mentor.
Besides employment, leadership, and clinical trial participation, are there other areas where inequality affects the health technology innovation industry?
Inequality can affect the healthtech industry at every step, and often in less visible ways like the availability of venture funding necessary for young companies to grow. A 2020 Deloitte VC Human Capital study found that African-American venture partners represent 3% of the total and Hispanic individuals just 4%. Investment dollars from these companies flow accordingly—just 1% went to Black-owned companies and 0.4% of Latinx female-owned companies.