title: 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 satisfied they are with their efforts, which practices they use, and which challenges they encounter. Relationships between diversity-related 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-specific 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-specific recruitment efforts (r=-0.38; p<0.05/r=-0.34; p<0.05). If the dental hygiene profession is to better reflect 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.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Hunter is a first-year GPR resident, Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center; Prof. Kinney is Clinical Associate Professor, Research Scientist, and Director of Dental Hygiene Program, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan; and Dr. Inglehart is Professor, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry and Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and Arts, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: Dr. Hunter is a first-year GPR resident, Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center; Prof. Kinney is Clinical Associate Professor, Research Scientist, and Director of Dental Hygiene Program, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan; and Dr. Inglehart is Professor, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry and Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and Arts, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Janet S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kinney
authors.affiliation: Dr. Hunter is a first-year GPR resident, Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center; Prof. Kinney is Clinical Associate Professor, Research Scientist, and Director of Dental Hygiene Program, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan; and Dr. Inglehart is Professor, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry and Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and Arts, University of Michigan. mri@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Marita R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Inglehart
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000193:education*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009042:Motivation; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010560:Personnel Selection; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D012923:Social Class; D013334:Students; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D014956:Writing
keywords: access to health care; allied dental education; cultural diversity; dental hygiene; dental hygiene education; minority groups; minority health; underrepresented minority students