Creating a racial and ethnic inclusive environment in occupational therapy education

Olson, L. M., & Burks, K. A. (2022). Creating a racial and ethnic inclusive environment in occupational therapy education. SIS Quarterly Practice Connections, 7(1), 8–11.

Over the years, there have been increased calls for diversity among health care providers. Even with increased efforts to diversify the health care workforce, the make-up of health care workers continues to be predominantly White (Ly & Jena, 2021). In the field of medicine, 65% of medical doctors and 71% of registered nurses identify as White (Ly & Jena, 2021). Within allied health, 76.5% are White practitioners (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Occupational therapy is not exempt from this lack of diversity. According to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s (AOTA’s) 2019 Workforce and Salary Survey, 16% of practitioners identify as people of color (AOTA, 2020). When looking toward the future we see some improvements, with 26% of students identifying as people of color (AOTA, 2020), but we still have a long way to go.