Minority Student Perceptions of the Impact of Financial Cost of Pharmacy School and Career Choice at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU)

One of the barriers that might prevent an underrepresented minority (URM) individual from pursuing a professional career in the United States is finances. The high disproportionate burden of student debt among URM students further perpetuates the racial wealth gap. Therefore, this study sought to ev...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American journal of pharmaceutical education 2024-05, Vol.88 (5), p.100698-100698, Article 100698
Main Authors:	Weaver, Salome Bwayo, Jason, Leeah, Ajayi, Oluwaseun, Algatan, Razan, Alharbi, Rehab, Belrhiti, Sanaa, Wingate, LaMarcus T.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Adult Black or African American - psychology Black or African American - statistics & numerical data Career Choice Cross-Sectional Studies Education, Pharmacy - economics Female Financial perception Humans Male Minority Minority Groups - psychology Minority Groups - statistics & numerical data Schools, Pharmacy - economics Students, Pharmacy - psychology Surveys and Questionnaires Tuition cost United States Universities Young Adult
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	One of the barriers that might prevent an underrepresented minority (URM) individual from pursuing a professional career in the United States is finances. The high disproportionate burden of student debt among URM students further perpetuates the racial wealth gap. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the extent to which URM students’ personal finance perceptions, and current and projected student loan indebtedness affect postgraduation career intentions. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from four cohorts of pharmacy students using a survey from November 2, 2022, to February 1, 2023. The financial perception survey included subscales namely personal finance self-efficacy, debt influence and pressure, and risk mitigation and retirement. Descriptive statistics, simple logistic regression, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. In total, 93 students completed the survey and had a mean age of 28.1 ± 5.3 years. Seventy-one percent of the respondents were female, and 67.7 % had completed a 4-year bachelor's degree. There was a significant association between age and the intention to pursue postgraduate training as well as a significant association between risk mitigation and retirement perceptions and intention to pursue postgraduate training after adjusting for other factors. Among students from largely minority backgrounds, age, and confidence in their ability to make wise investment decisions for retirement are associated with a greater likelihood of pursuing postgraduate training opportunities.
ISSN:	0002-9459 1553-6467