Ethnic Graduates Research Articles

An assessment of physician assistant student diversity in the United States: a snapshot for the healthcare workforce

BackgroundThe Physician Assistant (PA) workforce falls short of mirroring national demographics mainly due to a lack of diversity in student enrollment. Few studies have systematically examined diversity across PA programs at the national level, and little is known about best practices for consistently graduating a diverse group of students. We descriptively characterized the extent to which PA programs are graduating a diverse group of students and identified top performing PA programs.MethodsData from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) were used to calculate the number and proportion of racial or ethnically diverse graduates. The study sample included 139 accredited PA programs that had graduated a minimum of five cohorts from 2014–2018. Within each of the United States Census Divisions, programs were ranked according to the number and proportion of graduates who were underrepresented minority (URM) race, Hispanic ethnicity, and of non-white (URM race, Hispanic, and Asian).ResultsAmongst PA programs in the United States, a large disparity in the number and proportion of racial and ethnic graduates was observed. Of 34,625 PA graduates, only 2,207 (6.4%) were Hispanic ethnicity and 1,220 (3.5%) were URM race. Furthermore, a large number of diverse graduates came from a small number of top performing programs.ConclusionDespite the abundance of evidence for the need to diversify the healthcare workforce, PA programs have had difficulty recruiting and graduating a diverse group of students. This study provides empirical evidence that PA programs have not been able to attain the level of diversity necessary to shift the lack of diversity in the PA workforce. Based upon this study's findings, the top performing PA programs can be used as role models to establish benchmarks for other programs. The results of this descriptive study are currently being used to guide a qualitative study to identify the top performers’ strategies for success.

Academic performance of ethnic minority candidates and discrimination in the MRCGP examinations between 2010 and 2012: analysis of data

Objective To determine the difference in failure rates in the postgraduate examination of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) by ethnic or national background, and to identify factors associated...

Equality, Inequalities and Diversity: Contemporary Challenges and Strategies

1. Inequalities, intersectionality and equality and diversity initiatives: the conundrums and challenges of researching equality, inequalities and diversity Geraldine Healy, Gill Kirton & Mike Noon .- 2. The social construction of diversity, equality and inclusion an exploration of academic and public discourses Cliff Oswick .- 3. Linguistic diversity in the UK and Ireland Does the meaning of equality get lost in translation? Luke McDonagh .- 4. Navigating multi-layered uncertainty: EU member state and organizational perspectives on positive action Lizzie Barmes .- 5. Ethnic and religious diversity in Britain: where are we going? Prakash Shah .- 6. Tax law as an instrument of workplace diversity Ann Mumford .- 7. Criminalising and prosecuting disability hate crime Peter Aldridge .- 8. Resources and Constraints of Diversity and Equality Officers: Theoretical and Practitioner Reflections Ahu Tatli and Sanchia Alasia.- 9. Flexibility and Equality: Friend or Foe? Hazel Conley .- 10. Gender, ethnicity and migration in Black women's businesses start-up resourcing Cynthia Forson .- 11. The use of quotas in the most equal of the regions - politics and corporate boards in Scandinavian countries Cathrine Seierstad .- 12. Relevance of US and UK national histories in the understanding of racism and inequality in work and career Franklin Oikelome .- 13. The Labour market context and its effect on women's participation in independent business and professional networks - a comparative study of Germany and UK Nicole Avdelidou-Fischer.- 14. Exploring the intersections of gender, sexuality and class in the transport and construction industries Tessa Wright .- 15. Work-life balance: attitudes and expectations of young black and minority ethnic graduates Gill Kirton.- 16. What shapes the careers of young black and minority ethnic people Geraldine Healy and Harriet Bradley.

Differing labour market positions of ethnic graduates in Flanders

PurposeSeveral Flemish social scientists argue for the existence of a dual Flemish labour market as a result of ethnic stratification. Flanders is the Northern, Dutch speaking region of Belgium, which inhabits around six million people. The poor educational level of ethnic minority youngsters is generally considered to be one of the main explaining factors. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether ethnic minority graduates, who have successfully completed their higher education, also face ethnic stratification in the labour market, even though the educational argument does not apply. Therefore, the paper examines differences in labour market positions of the third (Italian) and the second (Turkish and Moroccan) generation immigrants, and a matching Flemish ethnic majority control group.Design/methodology/approachThe study is essentially of a quantitative nature. A postal survey was used to ask recently graduated ethnic minority and majority students from two schools of higher education and one university in Flanders about their career on the labour market after graduation. Universities provide education leading to master diplomas whereas schools of higher education train professional bachelors.FindingsThe waiting period between leaving school and entering the labour market is longer for ethnic majority graduates than for ethnic minority graduates. However, once on the labour market the differences in labour market position tend to disappear. Differences in first job wage, contract modalities, labour regime or the executive character of the job were small and non‐significant. Yet 61 per cent of the graduates of Turkish and Moroccan origin feel they have to try harder both in gaining access to the labour market and once in employment.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies will need to confirm these findings, perhaps even with ethnic minorities of other educational levels, in other locations.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that closer attention should be paid to the psychological dimension of the school‐to‐work transition of ethnic minority graduates as their psychological contract is under pressure. As they feel their efforts are not sufficiently rewarded – since they feel they have to try harder than others and are rewarded the same – chances are they will reduce their efforts.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on the under‐researched area of ethnic stratification among higher educated graduates. Moreover, it is not limited to factual labour market positions. The inclusion of subjective variables such as opportunity perception and self‐confidence allows additional insight in existing differences and similarities.

Exploring ethnicity in organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how ethnicity remains relevant to the workplace experience of minority ethnic graduate employees in contemporary British organizations.Design/methodology/approachQualitative interviews were conducted with 30 British Black Caribbean graduate employees drawn from a range of public and private‐sector organizations to examine the ways in which they felt their ethnicity impacted on how they experienced their places of work. Template analysis was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe paper finds that racial discrimination, social class and ethnic identity were key elements of the way in which ethnicity was experienced by these minority ethnic graduate employees. The paper discusses the differing ways racial discrimination is experienced and conceptualized in contemporary British organizations; and highlights the ways in which social class may play a role in how a group of (largely) working class minority ethnic graduates progress their careers in (largely) middle class organizational environments. Presented for the first time is a theory on the key facets of the ways ethnic identity might be experienced at work.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research would be required to see if the findings are replicated with graduates from other minority ethnic groups.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insights into ways in which majority and minority ethnic employees may experience organizations differently.Originality/valueThis paper provides some new insights into the role of ethnicity at work. It also attempts to address some of the issues with organizational psychological research on ethnicity at work identified by Kenny and Briner.

‘They have lost their identity but not gained a British one’: non-traditional multilingual students in higher education in the United Kingdom

This paper looks at the intersection between higher education, language and identity in Britain. It examines the reflections of minority ethnic graduates on their undergraduate studies in a new university in London. The graduates are from widening participation backgrounds and are multilingual. The paper explores how these graduates experienced their ‘linguistic journey’ in higher education with a focus on the development of multilingual identities and the ways in which multilingual resources are given scant recognition in UK universities. The context is set by giving an overview of government discourses on multilingualism and discussing how the United Kingdom has attempted to manage multilingual learners in educational settings. This is illustrated by four multilingual graduates' stories. These stories are indicative of how UK universities reproduce the monolingual ethos common in much of British society, either by ignoring the linguistic repertoires of their minority ethnic students, or by treating these as problematic. The paper argues that UK universities need to be imagined as multilingual spaces that respect the needs of minority ethnic students and appreciate the cultural and linguistic resources that this diverse group of students bring into the higher education sector.