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What Is It Like To Be in the Minority? Ethnic and Gender Diversity in the Genetic Counseling Profession

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Journal of Genetic Counseling

Increasingly, the genetic counseling profession is recognizing the need for greater ethnic and gender diversity. Recruitment and retention efforts may be enhanced by better understanding of the experience of individuals considered to be underrepresented in the profession. In this qualitative study, 8 genetic counseling students and 7 practicing genetic counselors who were ethnic minority and/or male participated in semi-structured telephone interviews regarding how they were introduced to the field, perceived career supports and barriers, their experiences within training programs and the field, and suggestions for increasing diversity. Introduction to the field tended to be late and accidental. There were several career supports (e.g., field combines science and helping others) and barriers (e.g., lack of information about the field). Participant experiences, although primarily positive, included instances of passive, unintentional discrimination; and there were internal and external pressures to be diversity experts and positive representatives of their group. Participants reported positively impacting colleagues’ cultural competency and offering a different presence within clinical settings. Suggestions for increasing diversity and research recommendations are given.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the first author’s Master of Science degree from the University of Minnesota. We would like to acknowledge and thank the interviewees who contributed their time and thoughts to this important topic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maternal Fetal Medicine Center, Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    K. Cheri Schoonveld

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, 206 Burton Hall, 178 Pillsbury Dr., SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Patricia McCarthy Veach

  3. Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Bonnie S. LeRoy

Authors
  1. K. Cheri Schoonveld
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  2. Patricia McCarthy Veach
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  3. Bonnie S. LeRoy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia McCarthy Veach.

APPENDIX: Interview Questions: Student Protocol*

APPENDIX: Interview Questions: Student Protocol*

Introduction to the Field

  • How and when did you find out about the field of genetic counseling?

  • When did you make this career choice (high school, college, work force, etc.)?

  • What attracted you to the field?

  • Do you have any reservations about entering the field?

  • What factors did you weigh in choosing your graduate program?

  • What expectations did you have for the program that you chose to attend?

  • To what extent have these expectations been met?

  • Was/would your choice of which graduate school to attend have been influenced if you knew that your classmates would consist of a diverse population (i.e., was the presence of other minority students a factor in your graduate program selection)? Was/would your choice have been affected if you knew that one or more of your professors and/or supervisors would have a diverse background?

  • In your opinion, do you feel that you were treated differently than other students during the interview process? What about since you’ve been in your program?

Support/Barriers

  • How did your family and friends initially respond to your choice to become a genetic counselor? How do they feel now?

  • What would you say was the biggest barrier you faced to entering graduate school, if any? Do you feel that there are currently barriers you face in school?

  • Who have you sought support from?

  • Have you joined groups or sought activities whose participants include a diverse array of students?

Training

  • Are any of your classmates from the same cultural/ethnic group as you?

  • If yes, have you sought them out over your other classmates for support during grad school?

  • Do you feel that your ethnic background has impacted your relationship with your classmates, instructors, and or supervisors?

  • To what extent do you feel a part of your training program?

  • Have there been specific times that you felt accepted?

  • Have there been specific times that you felt like an outsider?

  • Are there any particular things that you wish that your classmates and/or supervisors knew about your culture/ethnic group?

  • How much would you say that your classmates and supervisors generally know/understand about your culture? How about now?

Clinic

  • What impact do you think your ethnic background has on your clinical performance?

Suggestions

  • What is your perception as to why the genetic counseling field lacks diversity?

  • Do you have any suggestions of how we can better diversify our field?

*Questions were modified slightly for practicing counselor participants.

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Schoonveld, K.C., Veach, P.M. & LeRoy, B.S. What Is It Like To Be in the Minority? Ethnic and Gender Diversity in the Genetic Counseling Profession. J Genet Counsel 16, 53–69 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-006-9045-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-006-9045-4

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