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Professional issues
2
JCPSLP
Volume 14, Number 1 2012
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
Michelle Lincoln
This article
has been
peer-
reviewed
Keywords
CLINICAL
EDUCATION
DIVERSITY
SPEECH
PATHOLOGY
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
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.
The diversity challenge
for universities and
clinical educators
Michelle Lincoln