Trends in dental hygiene applicant pool size and characteristics of students upon entry over three decades.
A survey was conducted to determine trends that have occurred in the dental hygiene applicant pool and characteristics of entering dental hygiene students between 1957 and 1987. A two page, 46-item questionnaire with a cover letter and stamped pre-addressed envelope was mailed to each dental hygiene program director in the United States. A second mailing was sent one month later to directors who had not responded to the first mailing. A total of 106 usable questionnaires were returned, for a 54 percent response rate for 1987 programs. Response rates for programs existing in 1977, 1967, and 1957 were 51 percent, 45 percent, and 45 percent, respectively. For associate degree/certificate and baccalaureate degree programs, results suggest trends toward (1) a dramatic decline in dental hygiene applicants over the past ten years, (2) a decrease in dental hygiene class size, (3) an increase in age of applicants and length of education prior to acceptance into dental hygiene programs, and (4) a slight decrease in applicants' overall grade point average and science grade point average in the past decade. In addition, findings indicate that dental hygiene remains predominantly a Caucasian woman's profession. Implications of these findings for recruitment efforts and the numbers of dental hygienists for the future are discussed.
University of California School of Dentistry, San Francisco 94143.
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Ishida
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000193:education* / Q000600:supply & distribution / Q000639:trends*; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014930:Women