Speech, Language, and Hearing Careers: Recruiting Students From Diverse Populations

Abstract

A shortage of individuals from racial or ethnic minority groups in speech, language, and hearing (SLH) professions limits the ability to best serve people of diverse cultures and creates health disparities (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2015; Anderson, 2016). To increase the diversity of SLH professionals, university programs must attract, retain, and graduate students from diverse backgrounds. The Speech and Hearing Sciences (SPHS) Department at Lamar University piloted a recruitment and retention program (2014–2016) entitled SPHS Cardinal Careers, which was named after the university department and mascot to connect potential candidates to the university. The purpose of this paper is to describe the pilot recruitment component of the program. Outcomes and future direction of the recruitment program are discussed.