Qualitative Analysis of Student Pharmacists’ Reflections of Harvard’s Race Implicit Association Test

• Published in: Currents in pharmacy teaching and learning 2018-05, Vol.10 (5), p.611-617
• Main Authors: Avant, Nicole D., Weed, Elizabeth, Connelly, Chloe, Hincapie, Ana L., Penm, Jonathan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Implicit association test; Pharmacy; Race; Teaching; Unconscious bias
• ISSN: 1877-1297; 1877-1300
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2018.02.002

Identify and analyze pharmacy students’ perceptions about their own implicit racial biases. First year pharmacy students (n = 97) enrolled in a Pharmacy Practice course completed a test, Harvard Race Implicit Association Test (IAT), for homework to uncover their unconscious black-white racial bias. All students then wrote at least one paragraph reflecting on if they agreed or disagreed with their results and why. At the beginning of class, students were given a brief survey to capture their IAT results and demographic information. Retrospectively and following Institutional Review Board approval, pharmacy students’ reflections were subjected to thematic analysis with the assistance of NVivo 10 and descriptive analyses were completed of their demographic info. Out of the 97 students enrolled in this course, all completed the self-reflection. But only 90 completed the survey. From those that completed the survey, 54% (N = 49) self-identified as women. The average age was 22.6 years old. Most of the students (77%) identified themselves as White Non-Hispanic. Six percent (N = 5) identified as Black. Most students (66%) reported that their results from the Race IAT indicated some level of preference for European Americans; 13% of the students reported some level of preference for African-Americans. All students’ reflections were categorized by their agreement or lack of agreement with their implicit association test results. Those that agreed with their results cited family, friends, and community contributing to their implicit biases. Students who did not agree with their results were subcategorized as denying their results, believing that their implicit association did not affect their behavior, or believing that the Race IAT was invalid. Many pharmacy students were found to be unaware of their implicit biases and some do not believe that these biases will negatively affect the treatment of others. Pharmacy curricula should be developed to provide adequate self-awareness training and space in the curriculum so students can challenge these unconscious beliefs.