was set and one left the session during the consent process after hearing the NIH defini- tion for an underrepresented minority; this student did not identify as fitting the criteria. The conversations with the remaining stu- dents, however, did provide fruitful insights. One student became interested in environ- mental health due to personal and family health experiences. Three students indepen- dently discovered their interest in graduate school. They all were studying in health- related fields such as public health or medi- cine when they were exposed to environmen- tal health jobs or courses that sparked their interest. Each cited an understanding of the importance of environmental health and its ability to positively aect lives as a motivat- ing factor in pursuing and remaining in the field. The students did cite, however, a lack of widespread societal understanding of and respect for the field compared with other health professions (e.g., medical doctors) as potential deterrents. Additionally, finances played a significant role on multiple levels of students’ engagement with the field. Participants noted that doctoral candidates not receiving stipends over the summer deterred them from accepting an oer from some programs. Having to secure their own research funding or not being guaranteed funding for doctoral research also made some environmental health programs unappealing to students. This situation was described as a bar- rier especially for students from low-income backgrounds, as it is dicult to justify leaving a full-time job to be a student without stable income. Thus, students recommended bet- ter financial support throughout their degree program. Additionally, students noted that funding undergraduate research would further increase exposure to and interest in the field. In addition to finances, students high- lighted the importance of support in acclima- tion to the school environment. Guidance on navigating predominantly White institutes as a person of color and acclimating to U.S. culture as an international student were spe- cifically cited as areas where students wanted better support. Students suggested that these improvements could be achieved through mentorship programs or networking events hosted by the program. These mentorship programs and networking events could occur both between students of varying levels and between students and faculty.
TABLE 1
Focus Group Questions
# Question 1 How long have you been studying/working in environmental health and what sparked your interest in the field? 2 Was there ever an instance where something deterred you from working in this field or made you dislike it? 3 On the flip side, was there anything that kept or motivated you to remain in the field? 4 What are some of your thoughts on the current environmental health program being offered at your institution? 5 How well do you feel the program equips students to enter the environmental health workforce? 6 Do you feel that the program is doing anything particularly well or taking any initiatives to be more accessible or accommodating to students who are underrepresented minorities? In what ways? 7 What are ways in which the program can improve? 8 Are there any issues in the program that you think makes it unappealing to prospective students who are underrepresented minorities? 9 What are some ways they could address these issues to improve the program? 10 Some people have suggested mentorship programs to further support students who are underrepresented minorities. What are your thoughts on this? 11 Are there other recommendations regarding improving program diversity and inclusion that you have or suggestions you would like to make? 12 Are there any other thoughts you would like to share before we wrap up?
Note: The term underrepresented minorities is used here to align with the National Institutes of Health definition that the authors reference in the text.
approved this project. We conducted two lis- tening sessions with self-identified underrep- resented students (as defined by the National Institutes of Health [NIH]) in environmental health graduate programs to understand how the students became interested in the field and why they continue to stay engaged. Students were recruited via a mass email sent to mem- bers of the APHA Environment Section in fall 2021. A total of nine students expressed inter- est in participating. Two calls were scheduled: one in Decem- ber 2021 and one in February 2022. On each call, participants were asked to self- identify as underrepresented minorities using the NIH (2019) definition. This defini- tion includes Blacks or African Americans; Hispanics or Latinos; American Indians or Alaska Natives; Native Hawaiians; other Pacific Islanders; individuals with disabili- ties; and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., those who experienced homelessness; were in the foster care system; are first-generation college students; grew up in a rural or health professional short-
age area; or were eligible for Federal Pell Grants, federal free and reduced lunches, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). After the students self-identified and gave verbal consent, the moderator asked the 12 questions (Table 1). During the listening sessions, a notetaker tracked themes and the responses were audio recorded. Later, the responses were deidentified and sum- marized. The listening sessions occurred via Zoom to allow students from multiple insti- tutions to come together despite COVID-19 restrictions. To help reduce bias in partici- pant responses, the moderator was unknown to the students and not aliated with their institutions. Students also were allowed to turn o their cameras during the Zoom ses- sion to help maintain privacy. Results Ultimately, the eort involved four partici- pants whose responses were deidentified. Of the nine students who were initially interested, four did not attend the session after the time
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