Abstract
Black students and practitioners face systemic inequities that are insufficiently addressed. This session will explore their lived experiences with systemic racism and the impact of their occupational therapy education on their sense of belonging.
Primary Author and Speaker: Nardia Aldridge
Additional Authors and Speakers: Chloe Hill, Sierra Green, Lili Maglaris
The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of Black occupational therapy students and practitioners with systemic racism. Additionally, how efficiently their academic curriculum prepared them to handle racism and bias within didactic and clinical settings. This study featured a phenomenological design with data collection through semi-structured Zoom interviews and focus groups with 15 Black students in entry-level OT programs and 5 Black OTR practitioners within their first three years of practice. The data were analyzed using Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) Miner software. Ann Wilcock’s Occupational Perspective of Health provided the conceptual framework post-analysis. An IRB-approved flier was emailed to accredited occupational therapy programs on the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education website in all states and posted on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Inclusion criteria were students enrolled in accredited, entry-level occupational therapy programs who self-identified as Black and had completed at least one semester and practitioners within their first three years of practice. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Ethnicity was verified by self-report and via observation at the time of the interview. Enrollment was self-reported. The prevailing themes were Anxiety from Lack of Black Representation, Education through Lived Experience (Family, Media, and Self-Education), and Initiating Change as the ‘Diversity Person.’ Researchers concluded that participants’ sense of belonging was most impacted when Wilcock’s four constructs were compared: Doing, Being, Belonging, and Becoming. The results from this study outlined for classrooms and clinics may guide occupational therapy programs and affiliates in creating culturally competent programs that acknowledge, educate, and strive towards combating the effects of systemic racism and thereby enhance the sense of belonging for all.
Barber, P. H., Hayes, T. B., Johnson, T. L., & MÁrquez-Magaña, L. (2020). Systemic racism in higher education. Science, 369(6510), 1440–1441. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd7140
Hitch, D., Pépin, G., & Stagnitti, K. (2014). In the footsteps of Wilcock, part one: The evolution of doing, being, becoming, and belonging. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 28(3), 231–246. https://doi.org/10.3109/07380577.2014.898114
Salvant, S., Kleine, E. A., & Gibbs, V. D. (2021). Be heard—We’re listening: Emerging issues and potential solutions from the voices of BIPOC occupational therapy students, practitioners, and educators. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(6). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2021.048306
Wilcock, A. A., & Hocking, C. (2015). An occupational perspective of health (3rd ed.). Thorofare, NJ: Slack