Craig Cox, PharmD, BCPS
Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice
Vice Chair, Experiential Programs
Shannon Kirkland, MBA
Director
West Texas AHEC & Rural Health Programs
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Identifying Factors that Affect
Minority Students’ Interest in
Health Careers
H.O.T. Jobs
history
• Started by the Texas AHEC network in
1997 as a printed book
• Designed to prepare students for entry into
the healthcare field
• Historically updated every 3 years
• First HOT Jobs website was contributed by
the Health Science Education partner in early
2005 as part of 2nd edition—a pdf version of
the book with some lesson plan materials
• 3rd edition website launched in early 2006,
much more graphically oriented and some
basic interactive features
The Basics
• Received 2-year $340,000 minority
research grant from The Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board
• Project involved:
– Research Component
– Web-Development Component
• Collaboration with multiple partners across
State of Texas
Research
Objectives
•
•
•
•
Determine student interest & influences in
pursuing education after completion of high
school
Determine student & parent interest and
general understanding of health careers
Compare & contrast different cultural, familial,
and socioeconomic influences on student &
parent understanding and interest in health
careers
Determine informational needs and message
delivery resources that students & parents
prefer in obtaining information about education
and careers following high school
Timeline
of Events
• Winter / Spring 2008
– Focus groups process begins
– Determination of web design / infrastructure
• Summer 2008
– Held focus group sessions
– Develop student survey
• Fall 2008 / Winter 2009
– Disperse student survey / collect-analyze results
– Continue web design (modify based on research findings)
• Spring - Fall 2009
– Completion of website
Presentation
Objectives
•
•
•
Participants will be able to explain the findings from
this study about high school students perceptions
of health careers and media usage for career
information
Participants will be able to discuss the applications
for these findings in developing resources to meet
student and families’ information needs.
Participants will be able to discuss the challenges
and opportunities, as well as processes, for
conducting research working with schools and
underage students as subjects
Research methods
• Focus groups with high school students and
parents
• Survey of high school students
• Collaboration with Texas Tech University
College of Mass Communications
–
–
–
–
Alex Ortiz, PhD
Kent Wilkinson, PhD
Peter Muhlberger
Loni Flores, M.Ed. (TTUHSC F. Marie Hall
Institute for Rural Health)
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
FOCUS GROUPS
Focus group
summary
• Focus groups held in Amarillo, Dallas,
and El Paso
• 2 student focus groups and 1 parent
focus group held at each location
• Total of 85 participants from diverse
backgrounds (i.e. ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc.)
• Parent groups at each location were
conducted bilingually
Findings from student
focus groups
• The Internet was cited by the majority
of students as their primary source of
health career information
• Students look for information about
academic programs that offer
healthcare-related majors, financial
aid, expected salary, work hours, and
length of study
Findings from student
focus groups
• Students rely on online multimedia features,
such as streaming audio and video, to serve
as helpful tools in the search process
• Podcasting was not a feature students
used or valued
• Students also rely on television programs
(Hopkins or Mystery Diagnosis) as sources
of information, but state that they recognize
that ER and Grey’s Anatomy are not
realistic portrayals
Findings from student
focus groups
• Students talked about the importance of
teachers as key sources of health care
information
• Majority of students cited instructors as
their primary source of interpersonal
information at school, compared with
guidance counselors
• Two contributing factors of students going
into health care were service and job
stability
• Students indicated a need for additional
mentoring, academic and financial aid
information to attend college
Findings from parent
focus groups
• Parents in all three locations cited some of
the same concerns and needs
– the need for role models for their children, and
– presenting health careers in a way that shows
how interesting and exciting these careers are
• Parents discussed the financial issues
involved in pursuing training and the
perception of the huge time commitment
involved with a healthcare career—the cost
and length of training was a concern: What
if my child changes his mind?
Findings from parent
focus groups
• There were differences among the parent
focus groups
– El Paso parents stated the need to keep kids
closer to home
– There was a concern that leaving home
would bring their children a new set of
problems, including financial and cultural
– El Paso parents in the group had a higher
average economic status than the other
locations and were much more tech-savvy
than the others
STUDENT SURVEYS
Student
survey
• Data from students at 24 Texas high schools
• High schools are broadly distributed across
the state and across high school types
• High school types were defined by subdividing
schools by percent at-risk, low English
proficiency, non-Caucasian and economically
disadvantaged
• Responses represent 71% of all students in
Texas
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
About the
sample
•
•
•
•
Sample size: 855
Mean age: 16
% Female: 57%
Ethnicity:
– 35% Caucasian
– 46% Hispanic
– 8% African-American
• Median father education: some college;
Median mother education: high school
• Parental education is well distributed
Analysis
method
• Pure Demographic Model
• Contextual + Demographic Model
• Social Network + Contextual + Demographic
Model
• Media + Contextual + Demographic Model
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Health career
motivation
Pure Demographic Model (3%)
Variables
Overall Effect
Female
Positive
Self-Reported GPA
No Effect
Ethnicity
No Effect
Age
No Effect
Parent Education
No Effect
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Health career
motivation
Contextual + Demographic Model (20%)
Variables
Overall Effect
At Risk %
Positive
African-American
Negative
Hispanic
Negative
Female %
Negative
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Health career
motivation
Social Ntwk + Context + Demo (43%)
Variables
Overall Effect
Talked w/ Mother
Positive
Talked w/ Friends
Positive
Talked w/ H. Care Provider
Positive
Talked to Grandparents
Negative
Talked to Counselor
No Effect
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Health career
motivation
Media + Context + Demo Model
Variables
Overall Effect
Library
No Effect
Television
No Effect
Internet
No Effect
News
Negative
**How many health career websites the respondent
knows does significantly and positively affect
motivation and knowledge of healthcare careers**
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Research implications
Research Findings
Website Modifications
Social network important
Developed parent
section
Developed
“Professionals in Field”
Developed educator
section
Website rich in graphics
& interactive formats
Talking to healthcare
professionals important
Mixed impact talking to
teachers / counselors
Website impt, but need
multimedia components
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Parent Guide
Emphasis on
•Why health careers?
• Help your child
• Get started
Social Network
• Informational to key influencers:
• Parents/families and educators
• Perspectives from current health
professionals
• Social media
• Twitter
• Facebook
Professionals
in the Field
• Professionals can
complete a brief
questionnaire
online
• Profiles are
posted for public
view after review
Educator Section
Multimedia,
Interactivity
• Career Interest Inventory
• Career Focus
• Career Exploration Modules
• Education search map
Opportunities for
further study
• Teens’ skills for Internet searches are not
sophisticated. Some indications that they
are not as skilled as to find the
information they need
• Our survey focused on teen perceptions
and motivations, but did not have the
scope to include comparative parent
perceptions about the same issues
• Our findings suggest that, even though
Hispanic culture is patriarchal, the mother
has more influence in this area
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
CHALLENGES
IRB
Challenges
• Multiple Institutions
– Choose most rigorous IRB
• Population <18 years of age
• Incentives for students/institutions
• Understand IRB guidelines
Focus Group
Challenges
• Consider language barriers
• Consider ethnicity of groups
– Mix vs. Ethnicity-specific
• Consider technology / facility issues
• Consider timing of sessions
• Create “positive” learning environment
Student Survey
Challenges
• Diversity of requirements for gaining
school participation
• Difficulty in finding “ideal” time to conduct
surveys
• Delays in response were common
• Consider strategy / incentive to convince
school of importance of research
• Find “one” contact person at institution
Summary
• Development of tools for students,
parents, and educators are needed
• Important to get to know your audience –
through focus groups, student surveys,
etc…
• Things take time, don’t assume you can
accomplish overnight
• Be willing to “roll with the punches” when
conducting research
Contact us
Craig Cox
TTUHSC School of Pharmacy
Craig.cox@ttuhsc.edu p. 806.743.4200
Shannon Kirkland
TTUHSC F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural & Community Health
shannon.kirkland@ttuhsc.edu
p. 806.743.1338
Partners and
contributors
• TTUHSC School of Pharmacy
• TTUHSC F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and
Community Health, West Texas AHEC
Program
• TTU College of Mass Communications
• AHEC of the Plains
• East Texas AHEC Program (UTMB)
– DFW AHEC (UT Southwestern), Piney Woods
AHEC (Stephen F. Austin University), and Pecan
Valley AHEC (Victoria College)
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
QUESTIONS