Published on: 9/18/2024
Author: Alexis Krohn

Beginning in 2022, we started working with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Occupational Therapy (OT) masters program. They were looking for support for their  and the admissions committee members with the goal of improving representation of underrepresented students in their admissions process. 

We applied our tailored-to-you approach using research-backed bias reduction methods in two programs for them. As part of the grant that the OT program received to hire us, they needed to perform a study to show the grantor that the funded programs were impactful. The programs were well-received and had an immediate impact on the participants. But we could never dream how powerful the butterfly effect was. 

Let’s get to the most exciting part first: as a result of Calico’s intervention with UTHSC’s OT admissions committee, “after workshop implementation, the percentage of students from underrepresented groups increased from significantly, from 9.4% to 34.7%” - and this was the result of a workshop with 56% of the admissions committee participating. 

So how did we get here, to such an astonishing outcome? Well, we can count it in four steps.

• Committing to Action - UTHSC OT’s admissions committee committed to learn more and to change admissions outcomes - always a necessary first step!

• Identifying Needs - As partners in this program, Calico Culture Strategies (then Unconscious Bias Project or UBP) had pre-program meetings with committee members to determine the unique challenges facing the committee and their circumstances and goals.

• Creating a Tailored Solution - Calico Culture Strategies then developed a program tailored to the context and needs of UTHSC OT.

• Engaged Participation - UTHSC OT’s admissions committee participated with enthusiasm and focus, keeping an open mind to learning how they could contribute to a more equitable, less biased admissions process.

We were so excited to partner with UTHSC OT’s admissions committee to help diversify their admissions, giving more opportunities to a broad array of folks to get into the field, and helping to diversify their profession to better serve diverse clients. Reducing bias in the admissions process helps make sure that the playing field is level for all, that it is equitable and fair. 

An excerpt from the conclusion of the paper: 

“The number of occupational therapy practitioners who are from underrepresented groups must increase for the benefit of the clients served as well as the profession. Unconscious bias plays a role in decisions made by admissions committee members as well as by those in the occupational therapy field. [...] Interruption of this cycle is possible[...]. The results of the current study suggest that unconscious bias training for admissions committee members may be an effective approach for reducing unconscious bias in occupational therapy admissions committee members and increasing underrepresented group representation among occupational therapy students.”

If you want to see demonstrable outcomes from your equity, culture, and inclusion programs, book a call with us. We can get started tailoring a program to your organization’s needs. 

Research-backed methods work, and we’re proud to use them to build better cultures for academia, tech, governmental agencies, private industry, and beyond.

Lancaster, S., Woods, L., & Zachry, A. (2024). Addressing Bias in the Occupational Therapy Admissions Process. Occupational Therapy In Health Care, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380577.2024.2397667