JCPSLP Vol 14 No 1 2012

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JCPSLP Volume 14, Number 1 2012 5
The diversity in academic backgrounds, knowledge
bases, perspectives, skill sets, and frameworks that
this new generation of speech pathologists will bring to
bear on problems and challenges facing the Australian
and global health, education, and disability sectors is
exciting. They will also bring new and different attributes to
advocacy and assessment and treatment for people with
communication disorders. The challenge for educators
is ensuring maintenance of the entry level competency
requirements (SPA, 2011) as well as valuing and promoting
a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. Making room
for international exchanges and elective study in areas such
as global health, Indigenous health, management, social
policy, languages, and research methods is a challenge that
all speech pathology curriculum developers are facing.
Not only will these new graduates “look” and “sound”
different to previous graduates, they are also likely to
take different career paths. I expect that some graduates
who learn about global health issues and contexts and/
or complete placements in developing countries will go on
to fulfil roles in the World Health Organization (WHO) and
government and non-government aid providers. Graduates
in these contexts can advocate for the communication
rights of individuals and the need for assessment and
intervention for swallowing and communication difficulties.
Similarly, graduates with knowledge and experience
in working in Indigenous communities and Indigenous
individuals who continue to work in this context not
only will provide much needed services but will also be
powerful role models who may encourage more Indigenous
people to consider careers in speech pathology. Finally,
if we embrace this new diversity, then we will increasingly
see speech pathologists in influential management and
leadership positions within organisations. It can only benefit
our profession and clients to have people with speech
pathology backgrounds in such influential positions,
provided they remain convinced of the efficacy and
importance of our profession.
Big picture implications
Given the above discussion it is apparent that the idea that
there is a “typical” speech pathology student is now
defunct. It is also likely that the idea that there is a “typical”
speech pathology university course is also losing credence.
In the future each course will produce a unique graduate
with identified strengths based on the culture, strategic
aims, and perhaps location of the university in which it is
delivered and the strengths of the academic and clinical
staff associated with each course. For example, regional
universities aim to boost the rural workforce and to make
university education more accessible for Australians living in
rural areas. It is reasonable to assume that while all
universities have a social responsibility to educate their
students about rural health issues, regional universities may
achieve more or higher level learning outcomes in this area.
Similarly, graduates from research intensive universities may
achieve higher level learning and have more practical
experience in research. Both groups of graduates will have
met the CBOS entry level requirements, perhaps in different
ways, but will have additional areas of academic and clinical
strength. The follow-on from students taking these different
paths is that when they present on clinical placements in
the workplace they are likely to be increasingly diverse. For
example, some may bring a strong social justice and
human rights perspective to their work, others may bring a
anticipating changes in workforce needs and incorporating
appropriate learning and teaching strategies that will
produce work-ready graduates. This challenge implies that
excellent communication and collaboration is required
between universities and the profession to ensure that
curricula remain relevant.
Challenge 10: Increasing the size of the
speech pathology academic workforce
University speech pathology programs are also mindful of
encouraging some graduates into research and academic
careers. There is a shortage worldwide of speech pathology
academics, particularly senior academics, and it is
important for the future of our profession that the speech
pathology academic community continues to grow. This
challenge is magnified in the face of increased numbers of
universities offering speech pathology programs in Australia.
Just as in the health, education, and disability sectors, it is
important that speech pathology academics move into
senior organisational roles within universities so they are in
positions of influence. Universities are the power houses of
research that is strengthening the evidence base of our
professional practice. An evidence base that demonstrates
the effectiveness of our treatments and interventions is
critical to the future of our profession. Hence recruitment of
graduates into postgraduate study, such as PhDs, is vital to
increasing the number of speech pathologists on the path
to a career in speech pathology academia.
Up, up, and away – Leaders in
health care
The above discussion suggests that new speech pathology
graduates from across Australia will enter the workforce
with increasingly diverse academic backgrounds and
clinical experience. They will all have met the entry level
CBOS requirements; however, their journeys for meeting
them will be very different. Table 1 contains a range of
examples of different speech pathology preparation
pathways. Consider what each of the new graduates in
Box 1 is likely to bring to their workplace.
Box 1. Exemplars of educational diversity in
speech pathology graduates
A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program
from a regional university that requires all students to engage in a
multidisciplinary rural community development program focused on
improving health care inequalities.
A new graduate from a two-year masters program who completed
an undergraduate arts degree with a major in Indigenous studies.
A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program
who spent a semester abroad at a European university that allowed
the student to continue to develop a second language and study with
leading researchers in a particular area relevant to speech pathology.
A new graduate from a two-year masters program who completed
an undergraduate science degree majoring in anatomy and histology
and worked for two years as a laboratory research assistant before
commencing speech pathology.
A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program
who completed a voluntary eight week placement in a South East
Asian developing country as part of a multidisciplinary health care
team.
A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program
whose parents were refugees and who speaks two other languages
in addition to English.