Increasing Minority Representation in the Health Professions

Abstract

Research indicates that health disparities may be reduced by increasing the number of ethnic minorities working in health occupations. Establishing health career pathway programs for immigrant and ethnic minority students is one way to address this problem. One such program, Cross-Cultural Education in Public Health (CCEPH), was developed, implemented, and evaluated to determine whether participants expressed greater interest in pursuing health care careers after program completion. A sample of 72 immigrant students in two high schools participated in the program, which was based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy. Data were gathered using pre- and postprogram surveys that measured academic self-efficacy and career consideration. Results for academic efficacy were not statistically significant, but interest level in health care careers rose substantially. Although further research needs to be conducted to determine whether such programs increase self-efficacy, programs such as CCEPH can increase the consideration of health careers among immigrant and ethnic minority students.

Keywords

health careers health disparities health education programs immigrant students self-efficacy theory

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abi-Nader

(1991). Creating a vision of the future: Strategies for motivating minority students. Phi Delta Kappan, 72(7), 546–549.

Ajzen

, & Fishbein

(1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura

(1986). Social foundation of thought and actions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura

, (1992). Exercise of personal agency through the self-efficacy mechanism. In Schwarzer

(Ed.), Self-efficacy: thought control of actions (p. 3038). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.

Bandura

(1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.

Bandura

, Barbaranelli

, Caprara

G. V.

, & Pastorelli

(2001). Self-efficacy beliefs as shapers of children's aspirations and career trajectories. Child Development, 72(1), 187–206.

Betz

, & Hackett

(1981). The relationship of career-related self-efficacy expectations to perceived career options in college women and men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 399–410.

Betz

, & Hackett

(1998). Retrieved June 12, 2002, from http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/∼gail/osesa.htm

Bores-Rangel

, Church

, Szendre

, & Reeves

(1990). Self-efficacy expectations to perceived career options in college women and men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 399–410.

10.

Brewer

W. R.

, DuVal

M. K.

, & Davis

G. M.

(1979). Increasing minority recruitment to the health professions by enlarging the applicant pool. New England Journal of Medicine, 301(2), 74–76.

11.

Brown

, Lent

, & Larkin

(1989). Self-efficacy as a moderator of scholastic aptitude–academic performance relationships. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 35, 64–75.

12.

Burks

(2001). Intentional action. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 34(5), 668–675.

13.

Chase

(2001). Children's self-efficacy, motivational intentions, and attributions in physical education and sport. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72(1), 47–54.

14.

Clawson

D. K.

(1999). Challenges and opportunities of racial diversity in medical education. Clinical Orthopedics, 362, 34–39.

15.

Drake

, & Lowenstein

(1998). The role of diversity in the health care needs of California. Western Journal of Medicine, 168(5), 348–354.

16.

Gloria

, & Hird

(1999). Influences of ethnic and nonethnic variables on the career decision-making self-efficacy of college students. Career Development Quarterly, 48(2), 157–174.

17.

Krieger

(2000). Discrimination and health. In Berkman

& Kawachi

(Eds.), Social epidemiology (pp. 36–75). New York: Oxford University Press.

18.

Layton

P. L.

(1984). Self-efficacy, locus of control, career salience, and women's career choice. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

19.

Lent

R. W.

, Brown

S. D.

, & Larkin

K. C.

(1987). Comparison of three theoretically derived variables in predicting career and academic behavior: Self-efficacy, interest congruence, and consequence thinking. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 293–298.

20.

Libby

, Zhou

, & Kindig

(1997). Will minority physicians meet U.S. needs? Health Affairs, 16(4), 205–214.

21.

Morssink

, Kumanyika

, Tell

, & Schoenbach

(1996). Recruiting minorities into the profession of epidemiology: Surveying the applicants’ mail. Annals of Epidemiology, 6(1), 4–11.

22.

Nesdale

, & Pinter

(2000). Self-efficacy and job-seeking activities in unemployed ethnic youth. Journal of Social Psychology, 140(5), 608–614.

23.

Phillips-Smith

, Walker

, Fields

, Brookins

C. C.

, & Seay

R. C.

(1999). Ethnic identity and its relationship to self-esteem, perceived efficacy and prosocial attitudes in early adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 22(6), 867–880.

24.

Portes

, & MacLeod

(1999). Educating the second generation: Determinants of academic achievement among children of immigrants in the United States. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 25(3), 373–405.

25.

Washington State Board of Health. (2002). Final report on health disparities and workforce diversity. Retrieved April 18, 2002, from http://www.doh.wa.gov/SBOH/Pubs/pubs.htm