Race Matters: Occupational Therapy as a Career Choice by High School Students of Color

• In Event: 52.083 - Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: 52.083-11 - Roundtable Session: Opportunities and Access

Abstract

This critical ethnographic study examined occupational therapy as a field that has maintained the historic exclusion of students of color through mainstream professional academic practice. The tenets of critical race and Freirean critical theory guided analysis of the data collected from field notes, individual interviews and focus group discussions. Three categories representing student experiences with making post-secondary decisions emerged: (a) navigating the system, (b) making choices, and (c) no interest in healthcare. The results of this study suggest that professionals and educators should consider oppressive attitudes, structures, and practices in secondary and post-secondary education that prevent recognition and support of skills and strengths exhibited by high school students of color.

Author

• Kirsten Wilbur, University of Puget Sound