Perceptions of our Multicultural Population: A Survey of Future Speech-Language Pathologists
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
20-4-2015 2:00 PM
End Date
20-4-2015 3:30 PM
Student's Major
Speech, Hearing, and Rehabilitation Services
Student's College
Allied Health and Nursing
Mentor's Name
Megan Mahowald
Mentor's Email Address
megan.mahowald@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Speech, Hearing, and Rehabilitation Services
Mentor's College
Allied Health and Nursing
Description
The makeup of the United States has changed drastically over the years to include people of all cultural backgrounds. Speech-language pathologists work with children who are bilingual or identify with a different culture daily, and as their caseload continues to become more diverse, they must become more knowledgeable about their clients and their backgrounds. This study first looks deeper at the demographic that makes up speech-language pathologists and compares that to the populations in the schools. The purpose is to investigate graduate students' perspectives of these diverse cultures and evaluate whether an internship in a school influences their thinking. Data was collected through a survey given to first and second year graduate students. This data was divided based on experience with a school internship and further analyzed. Results show that the demographic of future speechlanguage pathologists is predominantly Caucasian, mono linguistic females, while their caseloads in the Mankato school district consist of a high percentage of Hispanic, African American and Asian children. Preliminary results from the data collected indicate that individuals that had interned in the schools were more aware of the changing demographic of their clientele and regarded multicultural knowledge as necessary in their field. The first year graduate students without the internship experience responded with a slightly lower form of agreement. The final results from this study will hopefully spark a conversation among professionals in the field about the importance of multicultural education and training.
Perceptions of our Multicultural Population: A Survey of Future Speech-Language Pathologists
CSU Ballroom
The makeup of the United States has changed drastically over the years to include people of all cultural backgrounds. Speech-language pathologists work with children who are bilingual or identify with a different culture daily, and as their caseload continues to become more diverse, they must become more knowledgeable about their clients and their backgrounds. This study first looks deeper at the demographic that makes up speech-language pathologists and compares that to the populations in the schools. The purpose is to investigate graduate students' perspectives of these diverse cultures and evaluate whether an internship in a school influences their thinking. Data was collected through a survey given to first and second year graduate students. This data was divided based on experience with a school internship and further analyzed. Results show that the demographic of future speechlanguage pathologists is predominantly Caucasian, mono linguistic females, while their caseloads in the Mankato school district consist of a high percentage of Hispanic, African American and Asian children. Preliminary results from the data collected indicate that individuals that had interned in the schools were more aware of the changing demographic of their clientele and regarded multicultural knowledge as necessary in their field. The first year graduate students without the internship experience responded with a slightly lower form of agreement. The final results from this study will hopefully spark a conversation among professionals in the field about the importance of multicultural education and training.
Recommended Citation
Jacoby, Tia. "Perceptions of our Multicultural Population: A Survey of Future Speech-Language Pathologists." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 20, 2015.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2015/poster_session_B/5
