Date of Award

Winter 2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Health Services Research

Committee Director

Laurel S. Garzon

Committee Member

Stacey B. Plichta

Committee Member

Carolyn M. Rutledge

Abstract

Accredited U.S. physical therapist education programs are responsible for the preparation of its graduates to provide culturally sensitive care to meet the physical therapy needs of an increasingly diverse population. While the importance of workforce diversity has been articulated, the effect of diversity climate on organizational effectiveness within accredited U.S. physical therapist education programs has not been described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Interactional Model of Cultural Diversity (IMCD, Cox, 1993) as a theoretical framework to identify diversity climate factors associated with organizational effectiveness in accredited U.S. physical therapist education programs. A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used to examine two constructs of the theoretical framework. A total of 151 programs (RR=83.9%) participated in the study. Key informants were academic coordinators/directors of clinical education (N=151). Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .82 for the IAPCC-R (Campinha-Bacote, 2002) and .78 for the perception of diversity climate survey adapted from The Ethnicity Subscale of The Diversity Survey (Brinkman et al, 1992).

Some diversity climate factors were associated with organizational effectiveness in accredited U.S. physical therapist education programs in this analysis. Identity structures significantly predicted graduation rate, number of graduates, number of minority graduates and percent minority graduates. Culture and acculturation process significantly predicted licensure rate. Structural integration significantly predicted graduation rate, number of minority graduates and percent minority graduates. Institutional bias in human resource systems significantly predicted number of minority graduates and percent minority graduates. Favorable perceptions of diversity climate were associated with a higher number of minority graduates and higher percent minority graduates.

The current diversity climate in accredited U.S. physical therapist education programs is sub-optimal. Unfavorable perceptions of diversity climate were identified in all institutional bias in human resource systems subscales. Future policy directions should explore evidence-based strategies and the effectiveness of studies related to diversity climate to foster the profession's contributions to eliminating health disparities and improving workforce diversity.

DOI

10.25777/756c-jz04

ISBN

9780549928393

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