According to research from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Black people count for about 12% of the US adult population, but just 7% of the pharma workforce and a mere 3% of executive teams. To help bring about a more representative, equitable pharma workforce, the company has joined with five historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) on special educational and recruitment programs.
The Tomorrow’s Innovators program is aimed toward both enhancing the recruitment and retention of diverse pharma industry talent and improving the student educational experience at participating HBCUs. The five schools signed on are Florida A&M University, Howard University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T University, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Chris Boerner, executive vice president and chief commercialization officer with BMS, said the company believes achieving a diverse workforce that reflects the patient communities it serves is a necessity.
“While there is still more to do in addressing racial and societal equity, programs like Tomorrow’s Innovators provide a critical opportunity to reach diverse talent sooner and cultivate a richer talent pipeline within our industry,” Boerner commented. “When diversity is celebrated and inclusion is intentional, everyone benefits, especially our patients.”
According to BMS, the initiative is an extension of the health equity, diversity, and inclusion commitments the company announced last year, which include the goal of increasing the diversity of the company’s own workforce. The company is striving to double executive representation of Black and Hispanic/Latino employees among its US staff and to achieve gender parity at the executive level globally, by the end of 2022.