515 Pharmacy Students’ Experiences of Discrimination during Experiential Learning Placement - a quantitative survey
Authors: McCarthy R , Cleary P , Sahm L J 
Published: April 2023

Introduction

Discrimination in the workplace is defined by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as ‘less favourable treatment’ than another employee in a comparable setting (1). When pharmacy students undertake experiential learning placements (ELP), they become part of the workplace and therefore potential candidates for exposure to discrimination. This study aimed to assess the student learning experience on ELP in line with the values of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) of University College Cork.

Aim

This study investigated if pharmacy students experienced discrimination during ELP with a focus on EDI. The prevalence and types of discrimination encountered were also examined.

Methods

A 20-item quantitative survey was created on MS forms relating to differing areas of discrimination including age, gender, appearance, sexual identity, race/ethnic origin, or English language proficiency. Of the 20 items, 14 were binary with yes/no responses, 6 were demographics. A free text box for additional comments was included. This survey was emailed to 3rd, 4th, and 5th year pharmacy students. All data obtained from the survey was entered into Microsoft Excel (IBM Corporation) for descriptive statistics which included percentages and frequencies. Further statistical analysis was undertaken using SPSS version 28 (2). Chi-squared test were undertaken as appropriate and a p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

Of 201 students, 84 completed the survey (response rate=41.8%), 72.6% (n=61) were female, 27.4% (n=23) male, 83.3% (n=70) identified as heterosexual. 52.4% (n=44) of respondents were aged 21-22 years. 53.6% (n=45) were in 3rd year. Almost two in five (39.3%, n=33) reported experiencing at least one incident of discrimination while on ELP. A total of 7.1% (n=6) reported gender discrimination and discrimination based on appearance, of which 2 in 3 were female (66%, n=4). No student reported racial discrimination. Age discrimination had the highest incidence, with 19% (n=16) of students reporting experiences of discrimination based on age. A Chi-squared test of independence was performed to investigate the association between age and discrimination based on age. The results showed that there was no statistically significant association between these two variables, X2 (4, N=84) = 2.5, p= 0.664.

Conclusion

Pharmacy students report experiencing discrimination on their ELP. Discrimination can have a negative impact on mental health; therefore, efforts are needed to reduce its prevalence. Students should receive awareness training and encouragement to report episodes of discrimination. Preceptors may also benefit from training in how to support students experiencing discrimination. Limitations of the study are the small sample size and single study site.

References

1. Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission [Internet]. Citizensinformation.ie. 2022 [cited 16 January 2022]. Available from: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/law_and_rights/irish_human_rights_commission.html

2. IBM Corp. Released 2021. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 28.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp