Navigating DEI Backlash – Improving Diversity in the Pharmacy Workforce

By: Tonia Guida, Ph.D. and Marissa Johnson, BS, Pharm.D. Candidate 

DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) offices in higher education institutions are facing negative reverberations from national legislation. Multiple legislative bills have been passed to ban DEI office funding and roles on college campuses, impacting states like Texas, Florida, and Utah to name a few.¹  In Texas, the anti-DEI bill specifically made DEI trainings, diversity statements, DEI offices and positions illegal. Proponents of DEI efforts have highlighted  the unwelcoming climate for racially underrepresented groups and the lack of diversity in college populations as important reasons to maintain DEI efforts.¹ 

Pathway Programs Enable Diverse Student Populations

Student recruitment is an essential element of DEI that is currently protected from the Texas anti-DEI bill. One mechanism to support diverse student recruitment comes in the form of pathway programs. Pathway programs are educational programs designed to support the recruitment of first-generation, working class, racially diverse students into the pharmacy profession. Recent research has suggested that pathway programs expose students to careers in pharmacy early in their education and expose underrepresented students to fields they may not have considered previously.^2,3,4 The use of educational frameworks like pathway programs is an important intervention, particularly during national anti-DEI backlash. Frameworks promote participation of diverse populations by implementing diversity innovations, improving the campus environment with tangible support, creating and merging social identities with occupational and science identities.⁵ Exposure to pathway programs is crucial as these programs can confirm students’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and healthcare-related fields. In short, pathway programs create opportunities for underrepresented student populations, a welcoming and encouraging environment, and recognition of longstanding injustices experienced by students of color. These programs support more diverse matriculation into pharmacy colleges, creating more representation for the people they serve as healthcare workers.^3,4  

PEPP Program at the University of Texas 

The Project Engage Pharmacy Program (PEPP) at the University of Texas is a pathway program designed to expose first-generation students to the pharmacy profession to address educational disparities and improve diversity in the pharmacy workforce. We focus primarily on recruiting students that attend minority serving institutions (MSIs) in the state of Texas. The program has been in place for four years  Through an inclusive STEM framework, the program provides students interested in health professions the opportunity to explore the diverse pharmacy field while immersing themselves in the culture of The University of Texas at Austin. The camp focuses on exposure to different pharmacy practice environments, hands-on experiences, and the opportunity to learn from pharmacy faculty and staff, practicing pharmacists, and pharmacy students. Mentorship and skill-building opportunities, including admission processes, serve as stepping stones for students exploring enrollment. Moreover, the camp provides participants with experiential educational experiences to support their pursuit of a pharmacy career. 

Tangible Proof of the Success of DEAI Pathway Programs through PEPP

Pathway programs are one concrete example of how DEI programs enhance student body diversity at pharmacy colleges. This has long-term impacts on the pharmacy profession and the treatment of diverse patient populations. For example, in our PEPP program, with a 68% alumni survey response rate, we found that 72% of PEPP alumni applied and enrolled in pharmacy school. Key findings of the survey included increased confidence when applying to pharmacy school, an increased confidence in career path, and an overall positive experience. By encouraging colleges/schools of pharmacy to implement pathway programs for racially underrepresented underserved students, the pharmacy field will most likely see an increase in culturally relevant and innovative pharmacy practices to serve increasingly diverse patient populations. In addition to large-scale effects of diverse representation in the pharmacy workforce, schools of pharmacy can use programs in individual microenvironments to advocate for and successfully charter a diverse student body.

DEI Programs Remain a Vital Tool in Diversity and Inclusion Factors 

Moving forward, schools of pharmacy must consider how national anti-DEI backlash might impact how we operate and how we recruit racially diverse students into the pharmacy profession. While we aren’t sure what legislative attacks against DEI might look like moving forward, if we use Texas as a blueprint, what we do know is that student recruitment continues to be legally in compliance, with some slight shifts in recruitment strategies (e.g. focusing on students attending MSIs who identify as first-generation and/or low-income).

Given our current national context, this leads to several questions for colleges/schools of pharmacy to consider: 

1. How will pharmacy colleges/schools continue to recruit a diverse student body in the face of laws that ban DEI programs and offices? 
2. What implications might you anticipate the DEI bans will have on student recruitment efforts at your respective institution?
3.  How might this affect the pharmacy workforce moving forward? 
4. How can we collectively demonstrate the role pathway programs play in the enhancement of the student experience for everyone?

References

1. Charles JC. Amid National Backlash, Colleges Brace for Fresh Wave of Anti-DEI Legislation. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Published January 14, 2024. Accessed February 19, 2024. 

2. Hahn FT, Bush AA, Zhang K, et al. Exploring the Career Engagement, Interests, and Goals of Pharmacy Students Identifying as Underrepresented Racial Minorities. Am J Pharm Educ. Apr 2021;85(4):8365. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8365

3. Campbell HE, Hagan AM, Gaither CA. Addressing the Need for Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Pipeline for Pharmacy Faculty. Am J Pharm Educ. Oct 2021;85(9):8586. doi:10.5688/ajpe8586 

4. Workgroup AASODaCC. Diversity Resource Guide (DRG) for Diversity in Residency Training and the Pharmacy Workforce. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. Accessed November 16, 2023. 

5. Hurtado S W-LD, Norris K. Advancing inclusive science and systemic change: the convergence of national aims and institutional goals in implementing and assessing biomedical science training. BMC Proc. 2017.

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Author Bio(s):

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Pulses is a scholarly blog supported by a team of pharmacy education scholars.