Predicting Success in a Statistics Course Geared toward Allied Health Students

Abstract

Statistics education is an important component of allied health education.  Although success in statistics courses has been reported for students in fields such as business, nursing and psychology, there is a dearth of literature in students of other allied health science disciplines. As statistics is a gatekeeper course for many of these disciplines, understanding and addressing demographic predictors of success is a crucial step in helping to maintain a diverse healthcare workforce. In this study, ethnicity, gender, their interaction, age, and class format were used to predict 953 success outcomes in a retrospective dataset, with major being used as a random effect.  Ethnicity alone predicted success, with students of other ethnicities having 0.6 times the odds of success as their Caucasian counterparts.  As statistics is a potential gatekeeper course for success in health professions programs, academic instructors, administrators and other stakeholders should take steps to ascertain the incidence and nature of disparities in their settings, as it may play a role in maintaining a diverse healthcare workforce.