JCPSLP Vol 14 No 1 2012

anticipating changes in workforce needs and incorporating appropriate learning and teaching strategies that will produce work-ready graduates. This challenge implies that excellent communication and collaboration is required between universities and the profession to ensure that curricula remain relevant. Challenge 10: Increasing the size of the speech pathology academic workforce University speech pathology programs are also mindful of encouraging some graduates into research and academic careers. There is a shortage worldwide of speech pathology academics, particularly senior academics, and it is important for the future of our profession that the speech pathology academic community continues to grow. This challenge is magnified in the face of increased numbers of universities offering speech pathology programs in Australia. Just as in the health, education, and disability sectors, it is important that speech pathology academics move into senior organisational roles within universities so they are in positions of influence. Universities are the power houses of research that is strengthening the evidence base of our professional practice. An evidence base that demonstrates the effectiveness of our treatments and interventions is critical to the future of our profession. Hence recruitment of graduates into postgraduate study, such as PhDs, is vital to increasing the number of speech pathologists on the path to a career in speech pathology academia. Up, up, and away – Leaders in health care The above discussion suggests that new speech pathology graduates from across Australia will enter the workforce with increasingly diverse academic backgrounds and clinical experience. They will all have met the entry level CBOS requirements; however, their journeys for meeting them will be very different. Table 1 contains a range of examples of different speech pathology preparation pathways. Consider what each of the new graduates in Box 1 is likely to bring to their workplace. Box 1. Exemplars of educational diversity in speech pathology graduates A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program from a regional university that requires all students to engage in a multidisciplinary rural community development program focused on improving health care inequalities. A new graduate from a two-year masters program who completed an undergraduate arts degree with a major in Indigenous studies. A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program who spent a semester abroad at a European university that allowed the student to continue to develop a second language and study with leading researchers in a particular area relevant to speech pathology. A new graduate from a two-year masters program who completed an undergraduate science degree majoring in anatomy and histology and worked for two years as a laboratory research assistant before commencing speech pathology. A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program who completed a voluntary eight week placement in a South East Asian developing country as part of a multidisciplinary health care team. A new graduate of a four-year undergraduate university program whose parents were refugees and who speaks two other languages in addition to English.

The diversity in academic backgrounds, knowledge bases, perspectives, skill sets, and frameworks that this new generation of speech pathologists will bring to bear on problems and challenges facing the Australian and global health, education, and disability sectors is exciting. They will also bring new and different attributes to advocacy and assessment and treatment for people with communication disorders. The challenge for educators is ensuring maintenance of the entry level competency requirements (SPA, 2011) as well as valuing and promoting a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. Making room for international exchanges and elective study in areas such as global health, Indigenous health, management, social policy, languages, and research methods is a challenge that all speech pathology curriculum developers are facing. Not only will these new graduates “look” and “sound” different to previous graduates, they are also likely to take different career paths. I expect that some graduates who learn about global health issues and contexts and/ or complete placements in developing countries will go on to fulfil roles in the World Health Organization (WHO) and government and non-government aid providers. Graduates in these contexts can advocate for the communication rights of individuals and the need for assessment and intervention for swallowing and communication difficulties. Similarly, graduates with knowledge and experience in working in Indigenous communities and Indigenous individuals who continue to work in this context not only will provide much needed services but will also be powerful role models who may encourage more Indigenous people to consider careers in speech pathology. Finally, if we embrace this new diversity, then we will increasingly see speech pathologists in influential management and leadership positions within organisations. It can only benefit our profession and clients to have people with speech pathology backgrounds in such influential positions, provided they remain convinced of the efficacy and importance of our profession. Big picture implications Given the above discussion it is apparent that the idea that there is a “typical” speech pathology student is now defunct. It is also likely that the idea that there is a “typical” speech pathology university course is also losing credence. In the future each course will produce a unique graduate with identified strengths based on the culture, strategic aims, and perhaps location of the university in which it is delivered and the strengths of the academic and clinical staff associated with each course. For example, regional universities aim to boost the rural workforce and to make university education more accessible for Australians living in rural areas. It is reasonable to assume that while all universities have a social responsibility to educate their students about rural health issues, regional universities may achieve more or higher level learning outcomes in this area. Similarly, graduates from research intensive universities may achieve higher level learning and have more practical experience in research. Both groups of graduates will have met the CBOS entry level requirements, perhaps in different ways, but will have additional areas of academic and clinical strength. The follow-on from students taking these different paths is that when they present on clinical placements in the workplace they are likely to be increasingly diverse. For example, some may bring a strong social justice and human rights perspective to their work, others may bring a

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JCPSLP Volume 14, Number 1 2012

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au