Recruitment of Dental Hygiene Students from Underrepresented Minority Groups: A National Survey of U.S. Dental Hygiene Programs

Abstract

The aims of this study were to assess how U.S. undergraduate dental hygiene programs recruit students, especially students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups, and how the program directors value recruiting those students, how satisied they are with their efforts, which practices they use, and which challenges they encounter. Relationships between diversityrelated recruitment motivation and satisfaction and the program and recruitment characteristics were also explored. Survey data were collected from 56 of the 287 programs that could be successfully contacted with individual emails to their directors (response rate: 20%). The majority of responding programs recruited students into their programs by using written materials (91%), websites (91%), on-campus events (77%), and high school visits (52%). However, only 20% had written materials and 13% special events for recruiting students from URM groups. While 75% of the responding program directors considered high grade point averages (GPAs) to be a priority and 85% thought high GPAs were important/very important when recruiting students, only 17% considered it a priority to recruit URM students, and only 35% reported thinking it was important/very important to do so. The more of a priority it was to have a diverse student body and the more important the respondents considered it, the more likely they were to have written URM-speciic recruitment materials (r=0.34; p<0.05/r=0.39; p<0.01). The more the respondents valued ACT scores, the less likely they were to engage in URM-speciic recruitment efforts (r=-0.38; p<0.05/r=-0.34; p<0.05). If the dental hygiene profession is to better relect the racial/ethnic makeup of the U.S. population, dental hygiene programs' considerations and efforts related to the recruitment of URM students need to be reconsidered.Dr.

A national survey of dental hygiene faculty perspectives on diversity, equity, and inclusion

“…In 2010‐2011, a survey of allied dental education programs found 13.7% enrolled dental hygiene students came from racial and ethnic backgrounds other than white, despite these groups constituting 29.8% of the population 2 . A 2015 survey of dental hygiene program directors found 17% considered the recruitment of black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) students a priority, with 35% reporting it was important or very important to do so 3 . However, of the 15,799 dental hygiene students enrolled during 2021‐2022 academic year, 0.9% were American Native, 8.8% were Asian, 6.2% were Black, 18.5% were Hispanic/Latino(a), 0.4% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 2.7% were from two or more races (non‐Hispanic), 2.3% were unknown, 59.8% were White, and 0.4% were of nonresident status (Table 1).…”

“…2 A 2015 survey of dental hygiene program directors found 17% considered the recruitment of black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) students a priority, with 35% reporting it was important or very important to do so. 3 However, of the 15,799 dental hygiene students enrolled during 2021-2022 academic year, 0.9% were American Native, 8.8% were Asian, 6.2% were Black, 18.5% were Hispanic/Latino(a), 0.4% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 2.7% were from two or more races (non-Hispanic), 2.3% were unknown, 59.8% were White, and 0.4% were of nonresident status (Table 1). 4 Thus, while some positive growth has occurred, in the current racial and ethnic make-up of dental hygiene students, certain racial and ethnic groups remain underrepresented when compared to the overall population of the United States, such as Black Americans, Alaska Native/American Natives, and Hawaiian Native or Pacific Islanders.…”