Exploring supportive roles for global north investigators in global health research

Many academics are increasingly pushing for solutions to address inequitable partnership dynamics in global health research and practice. Efforts to improve equity in collaborations have prompted academic institutions to grapple with promotion and tenure criteria (usually Global North institutions), as these criteria often require leadership on grants, publications, and conference presentations for advancement. From inequitable funding opportunities to the invisibilization of Global South researchers, these components are rooted in normalizing and upholding unequal power dynamics. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to explore ways in which Global North academic institutions can value supportive roles taken by their investigators in global health research. A special session was held at the 2022, Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) meeting, entitled “Incorporating Anti-Racism, Anti-Colonialism, and Anti-Oppression Efforts into Faculty Promotion.” The purpose of the workshop was to assess current practices that participants’ institutions incorporated in promoting anti-racist, anti-colonialist, and anti-oppression efforts within their faculty promotion practices as well as to brainstorm future solutions. A qualitative analysis of the discussion transcripts yielded several themes, including (1) making structural changes to the promotion process, (2) incorporating anti-racism/anti-colonialism perspectives into promotion packets, (3) recalibrating agenda setting and collaboration in Global North-South partnerships, (4) assuring strong mentorship for assembly of the promotion packet, and (5) developing effective capacity strengthening efforts. Given these results, we call upon the global health academic community to implement these suggestions in their policies and practices.