Health care career guidance in secondary education :a collective case study of career counseling of minority students /by Columbus Candies.

The number of minority health professionals in the United States does not mirror the ratio of minorities in the population. Efforts to increase the number of minorities in health care has the potential to begin in the secondary education setting with effective career counseling to encourage minorities to consider health care professions. This collective case study examined the career counseling experiences of minority students, comparing them with those of non-minority students. Theories of critical race theory and social cognitive career theory were compared with qualitative interview data collected in three high schools. The data was gathered in the Spring and Fall of 2007, and followed twelve high school students, parents and a sampling of school guidance counselors. The study found that career interests and outcomes expectations, variables within social cognitive career theory, play a major role in the selection of careers for minority students. Minority students are not adequately exposed to challenging health care careers, which contributes to the disparities in the number of health care providers and disparities in health status between minorities and non-minorities. The study also found that counselors are ill prepared in the multicultural dimensions of career guidance counseling, and understaffed when attempting to deal with guidance counseling, especially with minority students. Recommendations are provided for further research, policy, and practices in career counseling.Thesis (Ph. D., Education)--University of Idaho, December 2008