 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Kim Hanh Nguyen, BS, Regina Lagman, BS, BA, Chauncey Y. Johnson, BS, Melinda D. Martin, BS, and Lisa D. Moore, PhD. Department of Community Health Education, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, 415-338-1413, kimhnguyen@hotmail.com
Historically, the number of persons of color in advanced degree programs is low. Barriers to their enrollment, participation and success in graduate school include limited recruitment efforts by graduate programs, cultural barriers to classroom participation, lack of social support, limited resources and personal/family obligations.
Established in 2000, the Masters of Public Health at San Francisco State University is a part-time, three-year sequence program which utilizes the cohort model and adult learning principles, linking theory and practice to engage students to think critically about complex public health problems in the context of diverse communities. The program aims to attract and retain students from underrepresented populations to public health training and practice. Of the total student body enrolled since the program's start 5 years ago, more than half were persons of color (16% Asian/Pacific Islander, 22% Latino/Hispanic, 17% African-American; and 11% Other Ethnic).
Although the program has made progress towards increasing participation among students of color (SOC), there are still significant challenges that SOC face in the program. In this workshop, SOC will describe their efforts to address a gap between the program's ideal of diversity and equality and the reality of their academic experience. Examples include recruiting potential SOC, developing a safe space for SOC to build community and discuss issues related to race, culture, and ethnicity, and collaborating with faculty on a diversity task-force. In addition, participants in this session will be engaged in a discussion on strategies to promote graduate diversity and SOC organizing.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Ethnic Minorities, Students
Related Web page: www.sfsu.edu/~hed
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: San Francisco State University Masters of Public Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.