Perspectives on the Importance of Integrating Diversity into the Healthcare Administration Curriculum: The Role of Cultural Humility

摘要

Diversity is the new majority in the United States. Its definition has meaning beyond race and ethnicity. The comprehensive context of diversity requires healthcare administration faculty to foster a culturally competent environment in the classroom and throughout the academic program.Healthcare administration faculty should deploy diverse and inclusive pedagogy so that healthcare administration students learn to navigate our diverse society and the global economy. Such a workplace skill is invaluable to program graduates. Healthcare administration faculty should practicecultural competence in the classroom. Cultural humility, the lifelong practice to cultural competency, means to address one's own cultural blind spots. We review the long-term practical benefits received within a California postsecondary institution when students are immersed in a healthcareadministration curriculum that is diverse and inclusive in preparation for the healthcare workplace. We examine these benefits through three distinct yet combined perspectives by interviewing an academic (i.e., a healthcare administration professor); a pracademic (i.e., a clinical practitionerwho is also a healthcare administration professor); and an executive (i.e., a former C-Suite member of a multispecialty medical group). Lastly, we propose a practice to guide healthcare administration faculty to take the first steps toward developing cultural humility.