Abstract
Background:
The United States Census Bureau projects half of the population to be from a minority group by 2044 and one in five of the population to be foreign born by 2060. Health educators must adapt to and embrace diversity to work effectively with various populations.
Purpose:
The purpose of this article is to discuss the implications of cultural competency within the context of microaggression and to provide recommendations on how to incorporate cultural competence pedagogy into health education preservice courses.
Methods:
Microaggressions, when not addressed, can create an unwelcoming classroom for students as well as unwelcoming work environments for graduate students and faculty. It can also result in marginalisation and exclusion that can cause a student, graduate student or instructor to drop a class, leave a programme or leave a department. By reflecting on how other academic disciplines have identified the negative effects of microaggression on college students, the authors demonstrate how addressing microaggression through a cultural competency lens in the classroom can benefit a student’s future career in health service provision.
Conclusion:
While some work has been published on how to integrate cultural competency into health education, there is an absence of work incorporating microaggression and how to address it within health education pedagogy. It is important to address microaggression in all classrooms to ensure welcoming and inclusive environments for all practices in the field after graduation.
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