Exploring the Career Engagement, Interests, and Goals of Students Identifying as Underrepresented Racial Minorities in Pharmacy

Objective. To examine pharmacy career engagement, interest, and confidence in PharmD students identifying as underrepresented racial minorities (URM). Methods. A 15-item survey about career engagement, confidence, and goals was administered at a business session of a national conference. The survey included demographic items and items about career exposure prior to and during school, career aspirations after graduation, frequency of engagement in various settings, career factors, and career confidence. Cronbach’s alpha was used to examine survey reliability. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistical tests were used to analyze survey responses. Results. Sixty-nine surveys were completed by URM students. Most indicated frequent engagement with community pharmacy prior to and during school; no engagement with hospital pharmacy prior to school yet occasional or frequent engagement during school; and no engagement with pharmaceutical industry prior to and during school. Most selected hospital pharmacy as their career aspiration, followed by community and industry. Half indicated interest in a post-graduate fellowship. Items selected as important to career choice included patient care, job security, and level of stress. Group differences were found by gender and year in school. Conclusion. Despite calls for diversity in pharmacy, there is a paucity of research in this area. This study provides a first glimpse into the career engagement, confidence, and goals of students identifying as URM, raising a number of critical issues for pharmacy education. Moving forward, schools, employers, and researchers must work to better understand the career development of URM students, including barriers and facilitators to access and success.