Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?

Kawecki, Michal M.; Newton, Phil

doi:10.1038/s41415-023-5454-0

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Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?

Michal M. Kawecki, Phil Newton

British Dental Journal, Volume: 234, Issue: 2, Pages: 106 - 110

Swansea University Author: Phil Newton

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DOI (Published version): 10.1038/s41415-023-5454-0

Abstract

Introduction Widening Access (WA) policies aim to ensure that a professional workforce reflects the community that it serves by facilitating the admission of applicants from under-represented demographics. WA has not been extensively studied in UK dental education. Website discourses are an importan...

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Published in:	British Dental Journal
ISSN:	0007-0610 1476-5373
Published:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2023
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62463
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last_indexed	2023-02-10T04:18:19Z
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spelling	v2 62463 2023-01-27 Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students? 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8 0000-0002-5272-7979 Phil Newton Phil Newton true false 2023-01-27 PMSC Introduction Widening Access (WA) policies aim to ensure that a professional workforce reflects the community that it serves by facilitating the admission of applicants from under-represented demographics. WA has not been extensively studied in UK dental education. Website discourses are an important element in students' higher education choices and have the potential to engage those who might be under-represented.Methods Critical discourse analysis was used to investigate contents of the 16 UK dental school webpages in relation to WA, based on a previous study within medical education. Data were contextualised through identification of drivers and levers, as well as warrants of WA.Results Discourses emphasising social mobility, and the resultant advancement within social hierarchy of an individual, dominated the narrative rationalising WA as an initiative. WA was depicted as a mechanism to support applicants of high academic ability and exhibiting commitment to studying dentistry but who were unable to show their true potential due to their underprivileged backgrounds. This presentation portrayed dental schools as generous establishments, selectively granting career-advancement opportunities to disadvantaged students. Discourses on the benefits of WA for patient care and workforce diversification were largely absent.Conclusions Discourses representing WA on websites of UK dental schools are limited and do not portray applicants from deprived backgrounds or under-represented groups as individuals bringing unique positive benefits to dentistry and patient care. We encourage dental schools to consider alternate messages for attracting applicants from under-represented demographics. Journal Article British Dental Journal 234 2 106 110 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 0007-0610 1476-5373 27 1 2023 2023-01-27 10.1038/s41415-023-5454-0 COLLEGE NANME Medicine COLLEGE CODE PMSC Swansea University 2023-06-23T15:26:37.1561451 2023-01-27T12:47:59.9384027 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine Michal M. Kawecki 1 Phil Newton 0000-0002-5272-7979 2 62463__26514__53f0fbb75f89427ea869c056f86fb734.pdf 62463_VoR.pdf 2023-02-09T13:48:41.0434130 Output 353886 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 166
title	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?
spellingShingle	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students? Phil Newton
title_short	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?
title_full	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?
title_fullStr	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?
title_full_unstemmed	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?
title_sort	Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?
author_id_str_mv	6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8
author_id_fullname_str_mv	6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8_***_Phil Newton
author	Phil Newton
author2	Michal M. Kawecki Phil Newton
format	Journal article
container_title	British Dental Journal
container_volume	234
container_issue	2
container_start_page	106
publishDate	2023
institution	Swansea University
issn	0007-0610 1476-5373
doi_str_mv	10.1038/s41415-023-5454-0
publisher	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str	Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
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description	Introduction Widening Access (WA) policies aim to ensure that a professional workforce reflects the community that it serves by facilitating the admission of applicants from under-represented demographics. WA has not been extensively studied in UK dental education. Website discourses are an important element in students' higher education choices and have the potential to engage those who might be under-represented.Methods Critical discourse analysis was used to investigate contents of the 16 UK dental school webpages in relation to WA, based on a previous study within medical education. Data were contextualised through identification of drivers and levers, as well as warrants of WA.Results Discourses emphasising social mobility, and the resultant advancement within social hierarchy of an individual, dominated the narrative rationalising WA as an initiative. WA was depicted as a mechanism to support applicants of high academic ability and exhibiting commitment to studying dentistry but who were unable to show their true potential due to their underprivileged backgrounds. This presentation portrayed dental schools as generous establishments, selectively granting career-advancement opportunities to disadvantaged students. Discourses on the benefits of WA for patient care and workforce diversification were largely absent.Conclusions Discourses representing WA on websites of UK dental schools are limited and do not portray applicants from deprived backgrounds or under-represented groups as individuals bringing unique positive benefits to dentistry and patient care. We encourage dental schools to consider alternate messages for attracting applicants from under-represented demographics.
published_date	2023-01-27T15:26:32Z
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Widening Access: what do dental school websites signal to prospective students?

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