Identifying Factors Influencing Program Selection in Health Sciences by Underrepresented Minority Students: Scoping Review

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual Poster Session: Division I - Education in the Professions Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Objective: To explore underrepresented minority (URM) students’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators that will or have influenced their decision to apply for health science programs.

Methods: Five electronic databases, including gray literature, were used to identify papers published from 1942 to 2022, where 19 papers were selected from North America.

Results: Barriers and facilitators were categorized as personal, socio-cultural, educational and financial. The most frequent facilitators were scholarship, family support and the presence of role models, whereas barriers were high tuition fees, pre-admission criteria, and racism.

Conclusion: Results can inform education policymakers and admission committees to accommodate special admission policies and awareness workshops to recruit URM students, thereby increasing URM diversity in healthcare professionals.

Keywords: URM students, Facilitators, Barrier

Authors

• Sami Al Sufi Mohammed, University of Alberta
  Presenting Author

• Mary Roduta Roberts, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author