Hello All - I am searching for an honest opinion!!
I am currently in the process of applying for a few nursing programs around the Kansas City area! I have a BA and an MBA (neither related to nursing).
Upon applying to these programs, I worry that my gpa for my BA (3.2) may hinder my ability to get in! My MBA gpa is 4.0. Anyway, im hoping to get an interview with the schools I apply for, just because I think I can explain my desire to become a nurse a lot easier in person than on paper! But I am a little worried about going in for an interview!
I am an African American female, and I'm really not sure if that could potentially be a disadvantage. Just want to hear opinions. I am asking because one school I looked up was the University of Kansas nursing program. I would love to attend this one as I have heard it was a great school, but even just looking at the photos online of their nursing program, I don't see much diversity at all. It can sometimes be a bit discouraging.
I really think finding a program that values diversity not only with race but gender, previous schooling background, work experience, etc. would be beneficial! Any ideas on this? Thoughts? Advice on schools?
Nah, a good (civil, respectful) debate is the grassroots of AN :)
Well, I suppose I could see your parents/grandparents discrimination and raise you one: I personally have experienced bigotry, it didn't stop with my grandparents or parents. I am white....but I am also Jewish, and that's where it gets murky. No Affirmative Action in place for us
Discrimination is discrimination. And regardless of the fact that there NEEDED to be an equalizer in place at one time (a time that is PASSED, imho), there no longer is such a need. I completely agree with you that there DID need to be something that made it easier for minority applicants to gain placement in schools and jobs. But when we've reached the point where the preferential treatment has outlived its usefulness, we need to return the playing field back to level ground again.
At one time, being non-white meant less of a chance. Then (and now, still, as AA hasn't been repealed) it means that being non-white is an advantage. At what point do you suppose those who are in favor of Affirmative Action will be willing to say that this kind of discrimination is wrong?
I have a friend, black (NOT African American, but black) who hates Affirmative Action with a passion. He tells me that since the assumption is that he got into college, medical school because he's black he's also less intelligent, less qualified. Fact of the matter is he's a pretty darned good physician, BUT....he lives under a cloud of "you probably got your place in the class because of AA".
I wonder at what point people who favor AA will realize that it's not worth living under that cloud of doubt?
Anyway, debate is good. It makes you think. And if you're headed to nursing school, LOL, you've got LOTS of that ahead!
I have found this attitude ALOT with black skinned people who immigrate to the US. It never even dawns on them that the Civil Rights Movement is what allows them to come here and be successful. To even have the chance to show their great merits. To be johhny come lately into a situation and judge when you are benefiting from it reflects poorly on those people.
Interesting thing about these types of threads is that posters will mention their race. Now, vintage mother I imagined being a hippieish older white woman who wears vintage clothing and lives in a cool city like Seattle or San Franciscon or maybe the Oregon Coast.
Realize EVERYONE gets discriminated against. It happens everyday to ALL races.
Sure, I guess. That's kind of like saying everyone gets sexually harassed at some point. It's probably true, but it happens to some people (women) a LOT more than others. Racism is alive and well, and while white people (like me) may occasionally be discriminated against, it's pretty hard to argue that it's applied equally when you look at research.
For instance, in one study fake scholarship award letters were put in people's mailboxes, addressed to suggest it had been delivered to them by accident. Half had white-sounding names (something like Michael, though I don't recall the exact names) and half had black-sounding names (something like Jamal). Michael's scholarship award letter was forwarded to him at dramatically higher rates than Jamal's. A similar study sent out two identical resumes, differing only in their white-sounding and black-sounding names, and the white-sounding name got more calls for an interview. Academics, jobs, apartment applications... even "which race is more likely to get the death penalty." Seriously. The research is overwhelming.
Whatever discrimination whites experience on average doesn't hold a candle to what people of minority experience. That isn't to say there aren't specific, dramatic examples of racism against whites, but on the whole the system absolutely favors white people.
Sure, I guess. That's kind of like saying everyone gets sexually harassed at some point. It's probably true, but it happens to some people (women) a LOT more than others. Racism is alive and well, and while white people (like me) may occasionally be discriminated against, it's pretty hard to argue that it's applied equally when you look at research.
For instance, in one study fake scholarship award letters were put in people's mailboxes, addressed to suggest it had been delivered to them by accident. Half had white-sounding names (something like Michael, though I don't recall the exact names) and half had black-sounding names (something like Jamal). Michael's scholarship award letter was forwarded to him at dramatically higher rates than Jamal's. A similar study sent out two identical resumes, differing only in their white-sounding and black-sounding names, and the white-sounding name got more calls for an interview. Academics, jobs, apartment applications... even "which race is more likely to get the death penalty." Seriously. The research is overwhelming.
Whatever discrimination whites experience on average doesn't hold a candle to what people of minority experience. That isn't to say there aren't specific, dramatic examples of racism against whites, but on the whole the system absolutely favors white people.
So Jamal is a "Black" name? Could it be a "White" name? Research, huh?
Yes, the race majority of any culture will favor the majority of that culture. The "system" does not favor white people. Quite the contrary and government favors minorities. "White privilege" exists based on the fact the races tend to favor people of their own culture….any culture. You will see this in any culture. And statistically speaking, positions of power are occupied by white men in the USA.
And I could go on and on giving examples, like having rocks thrown at me hitting and head and everywhere in between because a "'white boy' doesn't belong in this neighborhood." I don't constantly complain I was born in a single wide trailer, a high school drop-out, the world is so unfair, etc.
And if you are white, how do you know what minorities actually go through? Your white. Perception is not always reality.
If you're truly concerned, email the dean of nursing and ask. I'm a male, Accelerated BSN student, and the school I'm attending had no photos of men on their webpage. Not a one. They also have no men among their full time faculty. And that bothered me. Enough to email the dean and ask about it directly.
She wrote back and expressed dismay that I might have considered not applying because the website didn't show any men. She said she honestly hadn't thought of it before, but that looking at it, she realized that it would indeed be very off-putting. She went on to explain that they had actively tried to recruit men onto their faculty, but hadn't been successful. And she assured me that men made up a sizable chunk of their cohorts. She also offered to put me in touch with male graduates of the program to ask about their experiences.
This is not to equate the experience of being a man in America with being black in America. Just to note that this might be an honest blind-spot for this school, as it was in my case.
Your ethnicity won't be an issue. I applied (and graduated) from a nursing program that wasn't diverse. Actually, I was the only black person in my nursing class, and we had a total of three in the nursing program. Don't let anything keep you from applying. Go for it!
I been working in nursing department for 7 years as an African American male but I have not had any problems into I moved to the racist state of GA but most of the people that hold me back are other African Americans but most schools r racist but if you're smart don't not matter.
I have no idea of the demographics in America, but there could be a lot of white people in the picture because there's more white people in that area. I truly have no idea, but it is concerning that to you, it does not appear to be a good place.
I don't know, but you shouldn't let you preconceived ideas stop you. You may be proved wrong, and pleasantly surprise. Or you may end up being right.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
....Now, vintage mother I imagined being a hippieish older white woman who wears vintage clothing and lives in a cool city like Seattle or San Franciscon or maybe the Oregon Coast.
So Jamal is a "Black" name? Could it be a "White" name? Research, huh?
Yes and yes. If your point is, "it's racist to assume that's a black name," then you missed the point. The use of stereotypical names was the point. Can Jamal only be black? No, obviously. Would someone who harbors a racial stereotype be more likely to assume a stereotyped name (without other evidence) was a person of color? Yeah. That's why they picked it. If you want more information on the research, I'd be happy to find the article (or articles, since I mentioned several). I didn't work in this particular lab, but the lab next door to the one where I worked did a lot of research on racism, so I can put my hands on it if you want to know more.
Yes, the race majority of any culture will favor the majority of that culture. The "system" does not favor white people. Quite the contrary and government favors minorities. "White privilege" exists based on the fact the races tend to favor people of their own culture….any culture. You will see this in any culture. And statistically speaking, positions of power are occupied by white men in the USA.
And I could go on and on giving examples, like having rocks thrown at me hitting and head and everywhere in between because a "'white boy' doesn't belong in this neighborhood." I don't constantly complain I was born in a single wide trailer, a high school drop-out, the world is so unfair, etc.
And if you are white, how do you know what minorities actually go through? Your white. Perception is not always reality.
I think we're done here. I could go into how I've already covered that anyone can find one example of a person being badly treated, and how that one person's experience isn't necessarily representative of the whole... which is why we have inferential statistics to begin with... but the highlighted portions above are in stark contradiction to one another. And my family always said you can't use logic to dig someone out of a hole they didn't use logic to get into. So, I'm not interested in talking to you about this.
Conqueror+, BSN, RN
1,457 Posts
I have found this attitude ALOT with black skinned people who immigrate to the US. It never even dawns on them that the Civil Rights Movement is what allows them to come here and be successful. To even have the chance to show their great merits. To be johhny come lately into a situation and judge when you are benefiting from it reflects poorly on those people.