Do we (CSD graduate programs)
truly value diversity in our students?
An Open Discussion
Jennifer Mackey, Marjorie Nicholas, Lesley Maxwell
MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA
Introduction
• What we aren’t discussing:
– standard or primary diversity categories that have
legal protections and that one cannot control easily
such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation
• What we are discussing:
– Do we have implicit or inherent biases towards certain
aspects of student behavior?, appearance?, personal
identity?
– Do we try not to accept students who we suspect will
be “hard to place” in external clinical sites?
– Are we “trying to weed out the pragmatically
inappropriate people” ?
Categories of Diversity:
Primary and Secondary
Image from “An Overview of Diversity Awareness”, Penn State
College of Agricultural Sciences, 2001
Diversity related to………
Behavior/
Mental Health
Personal
Identity
Physical
Appearance
Diversity related to………
Behavior/
Mental Health
Personal
Identity
“I have a learning
disability”; I’m from a
different culture”; “I’m not
a male or a female”;
ASD; anxiety/depression;
Bipolarity; social/pragmatic
“disorder”;
Physical
Appearance
Green hair; “older” student;
tattoos; nose rings;
“unprofessional” clothing”;
Avocado Diversity
The fleshy meat of
how we behave
The inner core of our
personal identity
The physical surface appearance we present to the world
Ground Rules for Discussion
• We assume there will be multiple viewpoints
about these topics
• We will be non-judgmental
• We will be constructive
• Our goal is to look at multiple angles of a
situation.
Scenario 1
Personal
Identity
• Student D had a learning
disability, a severe dyslexia and
dysgraphia, for which D
requested and received
accommodations in graduate
school.
• D was also in gender transition
and graduated the program as a
different gender.
• D performed at a high level in
academic and clinical courses
and has a successful career.
• Video remarks
Scenario 1
Discussion Questions
• Accommodations (in this case for a reading
disability) are sometimes viewed as more difficult to
implement in external practicum sites. Should this
be the case?
• How should we have communicated the gender
transition information (or not) to external sites in
the most sensitive way?
• Would your admissions committee have admitted
someone with a significant learning disability or
communication difference?
Composite Scenario 2
Behavior/
Mental Health
• Student Y sometimes has poor
eye contact, and some “odd”
gestural behaviors; both of
which we might label as
social-pragmatic differences.
• Supervisors at external site
complained about Y’s behavior
of not greeting colleagues in
the hallway
• Y also liked to knit in class;
didn’t take notes, but
performed at excellent levels
on all academic work
Admissions LOR*
• “I know that there is a prototypical speechlanguage pathologist type, and _____ does not fit
that stereotype. But I see this as a strength rather
than a weakness. She may need some explicit
instruction on those things we don’t typically
instruct students on. But she is bright, kind, treats
people with dignity, and hers is a voice our field
desperately needs.”
* This is an actual LOR that the author from a different institution gave us
permission to share for this presentation. It was not specifically about Student Y,
but rather an applicant like her.
LOR*
• “Overall, I believe _____ has the potential to
become a competent and caring speechlanguage pathologist if she can receive some
specific instruction and mentoring in
improving her pragmatic skills. Thus, I am
recommending her for admittance into your
program with some reservations.”
* This is an actual LOR that the author from a different institution gave us
permission to share for this presentation. It was not specifically about Student Y,
but rather an applicant like her.
Scenario 2
Discussion Questions
• Can people with significant behavioral differences (e.g. someone
with high-functioning ASD; someone with a psychiatric diagnosis
that periodically interrupts their life) function as effective SLPs?
• What weight should we put on these differences in admissions?
• At what point does “quirkiness” become a disorder?
• When is behavior “unprofessional” or just “unusual”?
• If we use in-person admissions interviews are we screening these
individuals out? Is this fair?
• Should we discuss these differences with external sites for
students we do admit?
Composite Scenario 3
Physical
Appearance
• Student X has a chunk of
bright blue hair.
• Administrators were
overheard to say “she
doesn’t belong here; this
will be difficult for external
placement.”
• Placement supervisor said
“not a problem”.
• Client said “I don’t want
that student working with
me as my therapist”
Scenario 3
Discussion Questions
• Many aspects of culture in the US (and the world) are
in flux. Things that wouldn’t have been acceptable 30
years ago are now mainstream (e.g. tattoos, certain
hairstyles)
• Where do we draw the line between being personally
expressive of one’s own style and drawing too much
attention to yourself, in clinical situations where the
attention should be on the client/patient?
• Where is the line between fashion statement and
personal safety issue? (nose rings, body jewelry, etc.)?
• “Professional dress” means different things to different
people. Are our expectations fair?
General Discussion and
Thoughts we have Pondered:
Where do we go from here?
• How can we ensure our diverse students are
treated fairly in our programs and at external
sites?
• Academic “teaching” faculty say “fine”; clinical practicum faculty
have to deal with student differences that others may see as a
“burden”.
• How can we be part of educating others about
these differences and helping to eliminate some of
our inherent and implicit biases?
• How should we as CSD programs proceed in the
most fair and accepting way?
– Can we be culturally humble?
• How are we perpetrating stereotypes?
• Are we biased against some of the behaviors
of millennials?
• What is our evidence that this (behavior or
physical aspect) matters?
• If we find ourselves aghast about someone’s
behavior or appearance, how should this be
addressed?
• What happens when students themselves are
rejecting of their peers?
General Discussion
Where do we go from here?
How do we discuss diversity issues so that we can broaden our
perspectives beyond “Suzy SLP”
• Do we need to be more explicit about our expectations?
Professional expectation sheets (Messick)
• What’s the link between feedback, teaching, and clinical
intervention with students?
• How can we help students learn to advocate for themselves
“Something I really appreciated that my supervisor did for me was
that I told her I was diagnosed with ADHD and therefore had
difficulty retaining oral feedback, so she created a private Google
document that she shared with me where she would post detailed
feedback for me to read.”
• Are we aware of what we are uncomfortable with? Are we
circumventing discussions that are uncomfortable?
How do we arrange our chairs?
Steele, C.M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi. NY: Norton.
Resources
Steele, C.M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi. NY: Norton.
Ingram, P.D. (2001). An Overview of Diversity Awareness. Penn State College of
Agricultural Sciences.
http://extension.psu.edu/publications/ui362/view
McIntosh, P. (1989). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Peace and
Freedom Magazine, July/August, 10-12.
https://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack
Biss, E. (2015). White debt. New York Times Magazine, Dec. 2.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/magazine/white-debt.html?_r=0
Whitehead, C. (2016). The underground railroad. New York: Doubleday .
Gyasi, Y. (2016). Homegoing. New York: Knopf.
National Geographic Gender Revolution: Special Issue, January 2017