'Every human being has a right to healthcare and education,' says Marco de Carvalho Filho, professor of medical education research and physician. 'Students, doctors and teachers should therefore be a reflection of the society they serve. We know that patients' care has better outcomes when their practitioners have diverse backgrounds.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science previously found that higher education in the Netherlands is not inclusive and came up with a National Action Plan for More Diversity in Science in 2020. 'In education and healthcare, we are dealing with a 'hidden curriculum,' Marco de Carvalho Filho explains. 'A culture of habits, norms and values that are not made explicit, but are common to everyone within education and healthcare. When you start asking questions about that, it highlights this culture, and we can make that hidden thing explicit.'
'Imagine you are invited to a dinner party. In front of you on the table you see three forks, three spoons and three knives and you have no idea which one to use for what, because you don't know this culture. Then you may panic. Or your fellow students or teachers use a lot of words you don't understand.... If you run into these kind of things 10 times in a day, you feel how a hidden culture excludes people.'
Using an innovative research design, Marco de Carvalho Filho wants to work with students from groups that are underrepresented, for example, due to gender, ethnicity, disability or social status, to map their social experiences. 'To know what obstacles keep them from thriving, we need to work with them,' he explains the design of his research. 'Only they can teach us how we as a society can indeed be there for them.'
Using the methodology of the Theater of the Oppressed and Critic Pedagogy, he wants to work with students to find the obstacles they encounter in order to enter and flourish in (scientific) education. Together with directors, medical staff members, teachers and policy makers, they will therefore take their place on stage.
'Think of the intervention we are developing there as a try-out for reality. In the theater setup, the social challenges of minority students will be portrayed. The goal is to work together in that theater setup to find solutions to make education and healthcare more accessible. Here, students can learn to influence policy to make education and medical sciences more diverse and inclusive. Physicians, teachers, directors and policymakers can safely put themselves in the shoes of underrepresented students in the theater. 'That goes beyond empathy, it will give them the opportunity to be that other person for a moment.'
The intervention Marco de Carvalho Filho wants to develop in this way, is aimed at teacher training and medical education. 'If we can design training in such a way that minority students have equal access and can flourish, it will ultimately have a great impact on our society. In the short term, medical schools and teacher training programs will become more inclusive and welcoming. In the longer term, we will get the more diverse teachers and doctors we need as a society for good care and education.
Students who recognize themselves in the story of underrepresentation in teacher training and medical schools are cordially invited by Marco de Carvalho Filho and his researchers to respond [email protected]
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