Rocky Mountain University of Health Profession, Provo, UT, 84606, USA.
Doctor of Physical Therapy Division, Duke University School of Medicine, 311 Trent Dr., Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Sep 27;24(1):1057. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06007-8.
The Association of American Medical Colleges suggests an Experiences-Attributes-Metrics framework for holistic review, but there is minimal research on demographic and personal characteristic attributes and the interplay between these Attributes subcategories. Understanding how personal attributes may vary among students considered represented and those considered underrepresented in one or more categories is critical to avoid unintentionally perpetuating practices that favor represented groups. This study explored differences in six personal characteristics either consistently related to academic performance or deemed positive professional traits based on diversity characteristics (categories of underrepresentation), age, and sex.
Three cohorts of first-year Doctor of Physical Therapy students at a single institution were invited to participate in this prospective, observational study. Participants completed six surveys: PROMIS® General Self-efficacy, PROMIS® Anxiety, 12-item Grit Scale, Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and PROMIS® Positive Affect. T-tests and ANOVAs (or nonparametric equivalents) were used to examine differences in these measures by number of diversity characteristics, age, and sex. Multivariate linear regression was used to determine if diversity characteristics explained additional variance in each of the personal attribute scores after controlling for age and sex.
One Hundred and Forty Five students participated (80.7% female, 77.9% < 25 years old, 51% 0 diversity characteristics). Students with more diversity characteristics and males reported higher self-efficacy and resilience (p's < 0.05). Females reported higher anxiety (p's < 0.01). Diversity characteristics explained additional variance in self-efficacy (3.3%, p = 0.02) and resilience (2.5%, p = 0.05) after controlling for age and sex. Grit, perceived stress, and positive affect did not show any group differences.
Underrepresented students demonstrated higher self-efficacy and resilience than their represented peers, qualities that may be important to overcome challenges prior to and during graduate school. Males exhibited higher self-efficacy and resilience, but lower anxiety than females which is generally consistent across higher education. Grit, perceived stress, and positive affect were similar across all students and may be less useful to create a diverse learning environment. Further studies should investigate differences in attributes among admitted and unadmitted students and the relationship to future performance for admitted students.
美国医学协会建议采用经验-属性-指标框架进行全面评估，但关于人口统计学和个人特征属性以及这些属性子类别之间的相互作用的研究甚少。了解在一个或多个类别中被认为具有代表性的学生与被认为代表性不足的学生之间个人属性可能存在的差异对于避免无意中延续有利于代表性群体的实践至关重要。本研究探讨了六个个人特征之间的差异，这些特征要么与学业成绩始终相关，要么根据多样性特征（代表性不足的类别）、年龄和性别被视为积极的职业特征。
邀请一所机构的三个一年级物理治疗博士学生队列参与这项前瞻性观察研究。参与者完成了六项调查：PROMIS®一般自我效能感、PROMIS®焦虑、12 项坚毅量表、感知压力量表-10（PSS-10）、简要韧性量表（BRS）和 PROMIS®积极影响。使用 t 检验和方差分析（或非参数等效物）来检查这些指标在多样性特征数量、年龄和性别方面的差异。多元线性回归用于确定在控制年龄和性别后，多样性特征是否可以解释个人属性得分的额外差异。
共有 145 名学生参与（80.7%为女性，77.9%年龄小于 25 岁，51%为 0 个多样性特征）。具有更多多样性特征的学生和男性报告了更高的自我效能感和韧性（p 值均小于 0.05）。女性报告的焦虑更高（p 值均小于 0.01）。在控制年龄和性别后，多样性特征解释了自我效能感（3.3%，p=0.02）和韧性（2.5%，p=0.05）的额外差异。坚毅、感知压力和积极影响没有显示出任何群体差异。
代表性不足的学生表现出比代表性学生更高的自我效能感和韧性，这些品质可能对克服研究生之前和期间的挑战很重要。男性表现出更高的自我效能感和韧性，但焦虑程度低于女性，这在整个高等教育中普遍存在。所有学生的坚毅、感知压力和积极影响相似，可能对创建多元化的学习环境作用不大。进一步的研究应调查录取学生和未录取学生之间的属性差异，以及对录取学生未来表现的关系。
