JCPSLP Vol 14 No 1 2012

Professional issues

The diversity challenge for universities and clinical educators Michelle Lincoln

This paper aims to integrate information about current drivers in higher education and clinical education in Australia and explore the interface between speech pathology workforce needs and the aspirations of current and future speech pathology students. Viewing the future of our profession from these different perspectives will reorientate the thinking of members of the profession and further harmonise the efforts of universities and clinical educators. Ten immediate key challenges facing the speech pathology profession are identified and discussed. These challenges reflect an overarching theme of increasing diversity. It is argued that students, clients, educational experiences including clinical education, speech pathology work roles, academic work roles, and academic content in speech pathology are becoming increasingly diverse. While the immediate implications of this diversity appear somewhat overwhelming the long-term implications are interesting and exciting, and depict a meaningful future for our profession. Change and diversity The only constant in the health and education sectors is change. Speech pathologists and speech pathology educators work in environments that are constantly changing. New graduates enter a work landscape that may have significantly altered from when they began their university qualifications. Coupled with this rapid change is increasing diversity at all levels of the health and education sectors. Speech pathologists are well prepared to work with cultural and linguistic diversity in clients and families; however, in this paper a much broader view of diversity that encompasses students, education, workplaces and work roles is taken. Some of the challenges associated with constant change and increasing diversity are explored. Challenges for universities, workplaces, and clinical educators are addressed in an attempt to facilitate mutual understanding and support for each other.

Universities have both internal and external drivers that may have direct and indirect impact on speech pathology curricula. These drivers are at the Commonwealth and state levels as well as the university and faculty/school/ division levels. Speech pathology curricula are also heavily influenced by Speech Pathology Australia (SPA), in particular through the Competency Based Occupational Standards (Ferguson, 2006; SPA, 2011) and accreditation processes. Speech pathology university programs must also attend to the views of other stakeholders such as employers, multidisciplinary colleagues, students, and clients. The following challenges are presented as a starting point in a profession-wide discussion about how universities and the profession can best work together to meet the challenges. Ten contemporary challenges in speech pathology education Challenge 1: Increasing numbers of speech pathology students to meet Australia’s future workforce needs In 2012 in Australia the number of places in undergraduate speech pathology courses will no longer be capped (Australian Government, 2009). Universities will be free to enrol as many students into undergraduate courses as they believe they have the resources to support. Uncapping of university places is consistent with the Commonwealth government’s aim of 40% of Australians aged between 25 and 34 years having a university degree by 2025 (Australian Government, 2009). At the same time Health Workforce Australia (HWA), a Commonwealth government statutory authority, has as its major goal to “meet the future challenges of providing a health workforce that responds to the needs of the Australian Community” (HWA, 2011). Achieving this goal implies growth in the number of health professionals given Australia’s growing and ageing population. From the universities’ perspectives speech pathology is often a high demand course that attracts students with relatively high Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATAR) and employment prospects for graduates have been strong. Increased recognition of the important contribution the profession makes to health outcomes, together with a growing professional membership, also raised the profile of speech pathology. The above forces have resulted in a growth in speech pathology courses from 10 in 2005 to

Keywords CLINICAL EDUCATION DIVERSITY SPEECH PATHOLOGY

This article has been peer- reviewed

Michelle Lincoln

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JCPSLP Volume 14, Number 1 2012

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology