An escape room increases interest and knowledge of the genetic counseling career among diverse students

Abstract

Despite significant growth of the genetic counseling field, there is still a lack of racial and ethnic diversity among the genetic counseling workforce. Increasing diversity in the genetic counseling profession can only happen if underrepresented groups are informed about careers in genetic counseling. This cross-sectional pre- and post-survey-based study implemented an interactive educational program utilizing an escape room to educate diverse students about the field of genetic counseling. The study assessed factors that influence career choice and pre- and post-surveys to determine how interest in and knowledge of the genetic counseling field changed after learning about the profession. Of the 90 participants, 85.56% identified as Asian, Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, or multiple races. Participants indicated that the most important factor when selecting a career is personal satisfaction and the least important is research opportunities. Men valued prestige significantly more than women (p = 0.0091), women valued helping others significantly more than men (p = 0.015), and participants in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) group valued flexible location significantly more than White participants (p = 0.019). Undergraduates were more certain about their career path than high schoolers (p < 0.001). After the educational program, familiarity with, interest in, consideration of applying to, and knowledge of the genetic counseling profession increased significantly overall (p < 0.0001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.0004, and p < 0.0001, respectively). When analyzing changes in outcomes within each demographic group, nearly all groups showed a significant increase in each factor. However, knowledge among White participants (p = 0.065) and consideration of applying among male participants (p = 0.09) were exceptions and had no significant increase. This interactive educational program is one example of an effective method to increase knowledge and interest in the field, specifically among individuals of diverse racial and ethnic groups. Future efforts should continue to explore how and when individuals make career choices to better recruitment efforts of diverse individuals.

Keywords: career choice; diversity; escape room; familiarity; genetic counseling; interest; knowledge; underrepresented students.

FIGURE 1

Average ranking of factors that influenced participants' choices in a future career path (a) overall, (b) by gender, and (c) by race and ethnicity. For ranking, 1 indicates least important and 11 indicates most important. * indicates p < 0.05, ** indicates p < 0.01.

FIGURE 2

No significant differences in familiarity or interest were identified between gender groups (a, c, and e) or race/ethnicity groups (b, d, and f) before and after the educational program. p‐values are as follows: (a) before, p = 0.68 and after, p = 0.51; (b) before, p = 0.23 and after, p = 0.43; (c) before, p = 0.17 and after, p = 0.076; (d) before, p = 0.079 and after, p = 0.26; (e) before, p = 0.12 and after, p = 0.31; (f) before, p = 0.47 and after, p = 0.70.

FIGURE 3

Average knowledge score before and after the educational program between participants interested in the genetic counseling profession and not interested in the genetic counseling profession. * indicates p = 0.049.

FIGURE 4

Knowledge of the genetic counseling profession before and after the educational program by (a) gender and (b) race/ethnicity.