My experience as a member of the UGR program at Pace University has been extremely fulfilling. Through conducting research on cultural humility and microaggressions, Dr. Gregory and I were able to connect with a range of like-minded professionals who shared salient perspectives on the topic. This program also provided me the opportunity to connect with other students and obtain a better understanding of the research being conducted throughout the university. The UGR program provides the ideal community that enforces bridging the gap between researchers in different fields.
Our initial project, Examining Microaggressions to Improve Clinical Encounters was our biggest accomplishment yet. The aim of this research addresses the need to decrease microaggressions within clinical encounters to help guide practicing clinicians toward sustaining meaningful relationships with their clients. Having our research be selected to be presented at the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA) conference, was an unforgettable moment in my academic career. While ensuring that this project touched upon the negative affects that microaggressions place on people from culturally and linguistically diverse groups, we were able to grasp the attention of speech-language pathologists, audiologists, teachers, professors, and professionals around the nation. The constructive feedback we received from ASHA meant that our work exploring microaggressions had just begun. Though this particular project is not yet published, we are still working toward completing the necessary steps for our checklist to be referred to in clinical settings nationwide.
As we move forward in our journey toward cultural humility, both Dr. Gregory and I recognize the importance of dismantling microaggressive behaviors in Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) communities as a whole. Our proposed follow-up research project includes an interview portion that would highlight the experiences of students enrolled in CSD programs at accredited institutions both in undergraduate and graduate programs. However, we decided to focus on creating a survey that will yield similar responses in hopes that we are able to gain a greater amount of participants. The aim of our follow-up research is to examine knowledge on microaggressions, what these experiences look like, and how they are handled within the program. Due to Dr. Gregory’s extensive career in research, working together on this project was enjoyable, enlightening, and challenging in the best way. With her guidance I feel that my skills in analyzing and writing research material have improved immensely. We plan on continuing to work together even after I graduate from the undergraduate program at Pace University in May.
Currently, Dr. Gregory and I are working on submitting an IRB while we work toward sending the survey out to students nationwide via social media. Our research study will focus on not only a survey to understand microaggressive behaviors but provide recommendations for students and programs dealing with microaggressions within the environment. By formulating the basis of our research and reviewing multiple research articles, we are confident that our results will bring solutions to individuals in higher education and students that enforces appreciating students from culturally and linguistically diverse populations.