Language, race and place

Abstract

With the increasing racial diversity of the United States and the growing economic and health disparities among racial groups, there is a growing need for health professionals of color (Montoya, 2006). However, people of color are significantly underrepresented in the health professions and make up only 14% of those admitted to medical schools and only 6% of the physician workforce (US Department of Health and Human Services 2009). Much of this disparity can be linked to very high attrition rates for students of color in their first two years of undergraduate science programs (Cohen & Steinecke 2006; Smith 1993; Tobias 1990; US HHS 2009). To better understand the complexity of the disparity, this ethnographic case study used Critical Race Theory to examine the experiences of eight students of color during their first year in a pre-medical program at a predominantly white research university. Critical Race Theory as a framework facilitates the examination of the various iterations of systemic racism including the intersecting forms of oppression and the dominant narratives used to explain and justify the relative educational success or failure of one group over another (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Solorzano & Yosso, 2001). The major areas of analytic focus included: Assumptions and dominant narratives about students of color in science, pedagogical approaches employed by instructors in college science classes; the role and impact on students of the academic science language in course textbooks and exams; the ways that race, class, language, and immigration status impact students in the science classes and the larger university; the impact on students of various university structures and practices such as financial aid policies, science course structures, and grading practices. This analysis shows how these multiple factors function as interlocking systems of institutionalized oppression that disadvantage students of color in the science courses. In addition, the counterstories of these students show the valuable knowledge and experience these students can bring to the medical profession.